Inspiration
We are three girls in tech who first discovered computer science in college. For most of our earlier education, we never identified with the subject at all, assuming that this was for the "video-gamer-math-olympiad-type-of-boy." We really wished we got a chance to explore computer science earlier, and we'd hate to have other talented girls dismiss computer science as "not for them" because of the stereotypes associated with the subject.
What it does
So, we built an educational tool that exposes students to computer science concepts organically while they're browsing their favorite websites. For example, while a student is browsing YouTube or Facebook, our tool would pop up and ask "have you ever wondered how searching for a friend behind-the-scenes work?" and guide them through an interactive coding module. We have built our first proof-of-concept on YouTube through a Google Chrome extension, with a Drake themed module.
How we built it
We built a chrome extension that users can enable while browsing popular websites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. It embeds an iframe (with the web content) on top of a YouTube video when activated.
Challenges we ran into
Many sites do not allow the chrome extension to make changes directly, and injecting javascript and HTML into webpage was not easily scalable, so we used a hack by embedding an iframe with our educational curriculum content.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Created a Chrome extension that embeds an iframe (with the web content) on top of a YouTube video when activated
- Integrated Google sign-in with extension for students to keep track of their progress over time
What we learned
What's next for HackEd
Version 2 of Operation XRAY:
- Supporting more sites (Facebook etc) automatically
- Linking the modules and adding a gamification component
- Module selection based on browsing history and/or preferences
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