Code for Education

Code for Education with Versal

We all learn best when we explore new educational concepts interactively. Yet many people who want to teach online aren’t programmers, and so they’re limited to tools like video and slide decks. Join us for an evening hack night to help make online learning better for everyone.

Schedule:
5:00 p.m. Doors open, form teams, meet teachers, have a drink
5:30 p.m. Pete Hunt of Instagram presents Immediate-mode UIs with React
6:00 p.m. Short overview of Versal, gadgets, and the SDK and a special talk by Adriana O'Brien, Wolfram Research
6:15 p.m. Hack away
9:00 p.m. Presentations and awards

Versal aims to bring interactivity to education, and we’re hoping you will help. We’re teaming up with SFJS to sneak-preview our SDK and host our first hack night!

We’ll start the evening with a special guest presentation from Pete Hunt (Instagram) on Immediate-mode UIs with React. After that, Versal engineers will run a quick SDK workshop to help you get started.

The main part of the evening will be devoted to building educational JavaScript apps, which we call “gadgets”. Gadgets are customizable drag-and-drop elements and exercises that serve as building blocks in Versal’s open course creation platform. Think timelines, simulations, graph calculators, charts/diagrams, flash cards, playable music instruments etc. You’re limited by only your imagination!

We’ll hold gadget presentations at the end, and teams with the best gadgets will win cool prizes! The best gadgets will also be featured in the Versal course creator.

Prizes

First place: A Chromebook for each member of the team (up to two)
Second place: A family membership to California Academy of Sciences (up to two)
Third place: $100 Amazon gift card (up to two)

All prize-winning teams will be offered a $2,500 contract to complete their gadget after the hack night and, upon approval from Versal, have it released via the Versal platform to our teachers. Finished gadgets may also be demoed at the TechCrunch Disrupt hackathon on Sept. 6-7th.

School teachers and professors interested in exploring new ways of teaching online are also invited! Teachers and developers who team up and work together on gadgets will be eligible for a special prize.