NOTE: The link seems to keep breaking, but it's the same url we post on our address bar and it works fine, therefore, if you're having issues visiting EnrichNYC, please copy and paste the following link into your address bar, https://sites.google.com/view/nycenrich
Many students across NYC do not have access to resources such as programs and workshops that help develop their interest in certain disciplines. Either they cannot afford the cost of such a program, hailing from low income, socially marginalized, and low-income communities or they simply are unaware of the resources that do exist. We decided to build a website. Our website provides resources on several disciplines (like business, Computer Science, writing, etc.) through links that offer workshops, programs, and opportunities for students to jump in these disciplines with confidence and help develop both interest and new skill sets. Our website provides resources on several disciplines through links that offer workshops, programs, and opportunities for these aspiring students who want to develop both interest and new skill sets. We researched our resources, looking for free programs that are current and accessible either remotely or in person. We used google sites, a web page creation tool, based on google docs, that allows us to seamlessly create a web page, essentially a free website builder. Some of the challenges encountered during the development stage were, getting viable resources, learning to use google sites, managing our time, division of labor, and making final decisions.
Inspiration/Background of your solution. (What’s the problem?)
Our team member Tasnim was inspired by her experience as a high school student in the South Bronx. When she was in her sophomore year of high school, she realized she had developed an interest in Computer Science, yet her high school did not offer courses nor extracurricular activities that involved coding. This led her to seek out resources on her own. Many schools do not offer or provide ways for students to engage in disciplines that may appeal to them. In NYC especially, there are many schools that lack this. After realizing this, we conjured up an idea to create a single access point for resources both online and in-person that offer workshops, programs, and courses to help students explore different disciplines and fields.
How can technology help with this problem?
Technology is well known for being a great way to spread information and have instant access to information. It is because of technology that we live in the information age where one could look up what they desire. Aside from sharing information, it allows us to communicate, collaborate, whether it’s on our own time or live. It has the unique ability to both bring people and information together.
What is your solution?
Our solution, was to create a simple website, a directory of sorts where students and anyone who wishes to find these resources, are able to access them through a single point of entry.
Why’d you settle on this solution?
Websites and the internet are perhaps the most accessible form of communication through devices such as computers, phones, tablets, etc. It allows us to reach everyone who is both aware of our website and it is easy to share, spread and grow.
What does your solution do?
It centralizes several resources in one site and brings awareness to these resources through this single access point. It allows those who wish to engage in different academic interests an opportunity to both explore and learn, as they are connect with the resources on our website.
How did you build your solution?
We settled on the subjects and disciplines that we would initially work with. We then proceeded to find free reputable sources. We then built it using google sites and gathered a description of all resources used for a brief overview.
List challenges encountered during the development stage.
Most issues were around managing our time, settling on decisions, and learning to use google sites. Also finding credible sources and embedding our mini google search engine to the site.
List anything you learned while working on this solution.
We learned how to use google sites, how to embed a search engine in our website. We learned. We learned as we worked to effectively divide our tasks in a way that allows us to get the work done with the limited time have as well.
List any accomplishments.
Making a website that is ready to use. Perhaps not the most perfect but it works and we’ve already heard many great things from peers and mentors regarding the resources we provided.
What are the next steps for your solution? (Where do you want your solution to go?)
The team decided to take the project a step further and develop it using JavaScript, and Jekyll. We will be using one of the resources on the website itself, theodinproject.com with the intention of creating a full-fledged site. We want to expand our subjects and make it available to as many people as possible starting with NYC and hopefully expanding to different regions. Our aim is to provide a connection between the students and learners alike and the resources and interest they either seek or were never aware of.
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