Global Discovery Academy (GDA), a chain of K-12 schools is organising all-India android mobile app design competition for school students in the age group of 10-13 years. Students from schools across India have been invited to participate in the competition wherein they will have to create a mobile phone application that will serve a social cause. The competition has been designed to challenge and help developing the thought process of the students by exploring and generating their own unique concepts. Participants will be competing in creating problem solving applications in one of the given areas of social concern like Environment, Education, Health and Nutrition, Poverty and Civic facilities.
The only criterion for participation is basic knowledge of computers and Internet applications. GDA will provide the requisite training on mobile phone programming. Students are required to form a team of 2 or 3 members each in order to register themselves as per the competition format. Registrations shall remain open till 01st September 2013, Sunday. There are no cost prerequisites to enroll.
The competition will take place in 3 stages:
Round 1: The participant will give a broad outline of the application with regards to the relevant social cause it has been designed for. The explanation shall address the apps functionality, its end user engagement, design etc. No programming will be done at this stage.
Round 2: The first prototype of the mobile app proposed in Round 1 will be submitted.
Round 3: Selected finalists will get the opportunity to present the app idea and prototype during finale a special event being planned in New Delhi, basis which the winners will be announced. An esteemed panel of judges will be judging the respective entries based on creativity, effectiveness of the app, and ease of use.
Speaking about the competition, Vipul Redey, Chief Product Officer, GDA said, “In the initial phase we have already received a very enthusiastic response from several schools across New Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh and look forward to a similar response in the coming days. This competition has been designed keeping in mind GDA’s philosophy of encouraging students to realise their unique talent. At GDA, we believe in leveraging technology as a tool to take traditional teaching to new heights. These new methodologies and this technology will encourage children to ideate, explore and learn through practical experiences rather than rote-learning”.
He further added “Every student is like a fingerprint – Unique – and hence we at GDA study the dominant strengths of each student (Diagnosis), chalk out a development trajectory for them (Intervention), and continuously check in on their progress on that trajectory (Monitoring)”.
