I started the "Hackers 4 Good" group to meet other people that want to use their professional skills to give back to their communities – and the world at large – by hacking real world problems, and creating and building solutions that can make a difference.
The hackathon format will be approximately:
• A chosen non-profit organization, in this case English for a Song™ http://www.englishforasong.org/ ( http://www.englishforasong.org/ ), has been invited to provide a problem that they'd like help with – where they think that design and technology can help.
Prizes will be available (software and possibly gift cards)
More about English for a Song (EFAS):
• More than 80 million American adults Read or Speak at or below 8th grade level. 36 million of them lack basic literacy skills
• A 1% RISE IN LITERACY SKILL SCORES CAN BOOST U.S. LABOR PRODUCTIVITY BY AN ESTIMATED $225 BILLION AND DECREASE U.S. ANNUAL HEALTHCARE COSTS BY AN ESTIMATED $230 BILLION PER YEAR!
• EFAS is a free, easy to use, accessible, English literacy app for American adults, ESL students, and immigrants. EFAS marries hit songs with fun, customized learning activities that help users improve their reading, writing, and listening skills in English.
• The EFAS Team, with multi decades experience in curriculum development and adult literacy, developed a series of exercises that really teaches the language while playing and progressing through games and songs
