Remote App in a Day workshop with our partner BNY Mellon
As one of our key corporate partners, we were thrilled to take part in BNY Mellon’s Skills Development week which engaged A level students to develop career- focused skills in a week of online workshops and talks. We were able to offer our remote Design and App in a Day course to finish off the week with a flourish.
The Workshop
We delivered the remote version of our Design an App in a Day course to 57 A level students from across the UK. Students came from a broad range of backgrounds and had the chance to collaborate together in groups.
Over the course of the day, students worked in sub teams to identify problems which affected them or their communities. They then used design-led thinking to come up with an app-based solution, before refining and pitching their new idea to a panel of expert judges. By the end of the day, all teams had built an MVP version of their own app, taking into account user needs as well as opportunities for future development. All teams showed an impressive level of focus, engagement and creativity and as one BNY Mellon volunteer said, they managed to achieve more in a day than many companies do in months!
Expert engagement
Our Education and Engagement team who ran the session were supported by 7 fantastic volunteers from BNY Mellon who helped the teams throughout, providing them with expert feedback. A further 6 volunteers joined at the end to form the judging panel and decide the winning solutions (arguably the toughest job of the day). It was a great opportunity for BNY employees to fully engage with the students, offering up their skills and expertise, as well as modelling future career opportunities.
I felt nervous presenting, but I really enjoyed being able to present to the experts and their feedback was really useful and insightful.”
Developing skills and confidence
The final pitches offered up a great diversity of app solutions, tackling problems ranging from social isolation among the elderly to managing the transition from school to university. Having students coming from a range of backgrounds from across the UK really helped bring a variety of problems and solutions to the table, and the way each session was structured ensured that everyone had an opportunity to actively participate.
Most importantly, the students were able to build new connections with those outside of their school environment as they worked effectively together to problem solve, ideate and pitch.
“It was amazing because I had the confidence to answer their questions and explain what our app is”.
“Brilliant, I feel like I have learnt a lot”
If you would be interested in setting up a session with your students and one of our incredible partners please get in touch education@appsforgood.org