–The app challenge, part of Verizon Innovative Learning, is a nationwide contest in which middle and high school students are challenged to develop concepts for mobile apps that solve a problem in their community. It’s a unique, hands-on activity that teaches collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and entrepreneurship, as well as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills and coding. It builds on students’ excitement about technology and aims to equip them with skills they need to succeed in the jobs of the future. –Teams of 5-7 people. –It only requires the team to develop an app concept (no code): •Essay responses: Submit written answers to questions about the problem your app would tackle and the features that make your solution unique. •Video: Create a three-minute video that demonstrates your team’s vision for its mobile app concept, showing why this problem is meaningful to your team and how your app concept will help solve it. Be sure to demonstrate your team’s unique personality and approach. Upload the video to YouTube or Vimeo. In the title, include the hashtag #VZAppChallenge. A concept submission consists of essay responses and a video. Important dates
Registration for the app challenge opens August 1, 2016.
The submission deadline is November 18, 2016.
Best in State winners will be announced January 9, 2017.
Best in Region winners will be announced January 17, 2017.
Voting for the Fan Favorite award will take place January 16 through February 14, 2017 (all BIS winners are eligible for Fan Favorite).
Prizes: Best in State team prizes: One middle school team and one high school team from each state and the District of Columbia with eligible team submissions are chosen as the Best in State winners. Each Best in State team will receive:
A $5,000 award to enhance STEM education at their school or sponsoring organization
An Android mobile tablet for each team member
Teams are also eligible for consideration as a Best in Region winner and eligible to enter the app challenge Fan Favorite contest. Best in Region team prizes Best in State winning teams compete to be chosen as one of 24 Best in Region teams. Best in Region teams have the opportunity to present their app concept to a panel of judges during an online webinar, which serves as the basis for choosing the Best in Nation winners.
Best in Nation and Fan Favorite team prizes Four top middle school teams and four top high school teams from the group of Best in Region winners will be named Best in Nation winners. Also, one of the Best in State teams will be named the Fan Favorite through public voting. In addition to the prizes they’ve already won at the state level, each Best in Nation team, and the one Fan Favorite team, will receive:
A $15,000 award to assist the team in building a working mobile app from their winning design, to enhance STEM education at their school or sponsoring organization, and to cover the travel expenses of the faculty advisor’s attendance at the National Technology Student Association (TSA) Conference in Orlando, Florida, in June 2017.
In-person and virtual training and support from the MIT App Inventor Group to assist the team in building and publishing their mobile app.
An all-expenses-paid trip to the 2017 National TSA Conference in Orlando, Florida, for each team member and a parent/guardian.
The award money may be used to:
Support teams as they build their app concepts for the Android platform and bring them to the marketplace.
Further STEM education at their school or sponsoring organization by enhancing existing STEM educational programming, introducing new STEM education programs, supporting co-curriculum STEM activities for students, or providing STEM-related professional development for educators. Funds may not be used to purchase technology hardware or software. The Verizon Foundation does not gift products or services to schools or sponsoring organizations.
Note that winning teams will be required to document how their funds are spent.
HOW TO DO SUBMISSION: Compete for Best in State and Best in Region Your team’s submission will include essay and video components. By November 18, 2016, you must submit essay responses to the following four prompts:
Statement of the problem (200 words)
Clearly describe the identified problem or issue in your school or community.
Explain how this problem affects your school or community.
Your mobile app solution (200 words)
Describe your team’s mobile app concept.
Explain how your concept solves the identified problem.
Uniqueness of your mobile app solution (200 words)
Explain what makes your mobile app concept unique.
Clarify how your concept differs from mobile apps currently available.
Mobile app features (200 words)
Describe the mobile technology features present in your app concept.
State how those features provide a viable mobile technology solution to the problem.
Also by November 18, you must submit a three-minute video demonstrating how your team’s mobile app concept will help users solve the problem you have identified. See the Make Your Video page for ideas and tips. In your video, be sure to:
Clearly articulate the identified problem and why it is important to address.
Convey your team’s vision for how the key features of your mobile app solution will solve this problem.
Use engaging visual elements, such as graphics, storyboards, role playing, and vignettes.
Upload your video link to either YouTube or Vimeo. In the title, include the hashtag #VZAppChallenge and provide the file link via the contest submission page. If you cannot upload to YouTube or Vimeo, exceptions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Click here for contest-specific instructions on uploading your video. Teams must also upload completed school/faculty/nonprofit authorization forms and student release forms:
Compete for Best in Nation To compete for Best in Nation, Best in Region teams present their app concept in an online webinar to a panel of professional judges. The judges evaluate:
Your description of the problem and the need for it to be resolved
Your vision of how your mobile app concept will address this issue
Your presentation of how your app concept leverages the unique capabilities of a mobile technology solution
Compete for Fan Favorite All Best in State teams are eligible to compete for the title of Fan Favorite, which is chosen by popular vote. The teams’ video submissions are posted on the app challenge website, and the public is invited to vote for their favorite. The Fan Favorite winning team receives the same prizes as the Best in Nation teams. With the help of MIT App Inventor Master Trainers, Best in Nation and Fan Favorite winning teams will develop their concepts into working apps. They must submit their working apps by June 1, 2017, in order to attend the National TSA Conference in Orlando, Florida.