When

Monday May 18, 2015 from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM EDT
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Where

Impact Hub 
394 Broadway, 5th floor
New York, NY 10013  

 
Driving Directions 

Contact

Bryna Leider 
The Jewish Education Project 
646-472-5385 

Join us for the Atid Day School Innovation Hackathon, where a diverse community of educators, high school students and tech professionals will workshop forward-thinking solutions to pressing day school challenges using the principles of design thinking. Our challenge for the day is: How might we use technology to enhance Jewish day school education?

This event is for you if you are any or all of the following:

  1. a teacher who aspires to harness technology to address classroom needs
  2. an ed tech guru eager to network with professionals from the tech sector
  3. an educator who is energized by learning and building things with colleagues in a fun and fast-paced environment!
  4. a high school student who is motivated to partner with teachers to improve the classroom experience.*
  5. A tech professional/college student who is passionate about using your skills to enhance Jewish education

This jam-packed day of visioning and hacking will include:

  • Networking: Break down barriers and buddy up to new colleagues over coffee
  • Pitching: Proclaim innovative ideas to the world and find your dream team
  • Prototyping: Design, build, and test projects with talented techies, design geeks, high school students, and more
  • Learning: Grow your skills and exchange resources with experts and peers
  • Celebrating: Cheer for the winners of the Atid Day School Innovation Challenge...and yourselves! Prizes will be awarded to the top three Hackathon teams, as determined by participant voting. 

Plus plenty of surprises to delight and inspire!

Agenda

8:30-9:30

Breakfast, Pitching & Team Formation

9:30-10:15

Welcome + Prototyping Crash Course

10:15

Prototyping

1:00

Working Lunch

1:00-4:15

Prototyping, Presentation Prep

4:15-4:30

Break

4:30-6:15

Demos

6:15

Voting

6:15-6:30

Atid Award Ceremony + Closing Remarks

 

Grand Prize: $2000 + 1 hr of coaching by Hsing Wei + 1 hr of PresenTense coaching*
Second Place: $1500 + 1 hr of PresenTense coaching*
Third Place: $1000*

*To be used for the continued development of the projects

Hsing Wei is a designer, convener, and tinkerist. She enjoys thinking about and developing technology-enriched experiences that solve problems, connect communities, and enable novel ways of interacting with the world. After wandering the halls of Penn, MIT, and Harvard, she continues to be constantly curious and helps develop new content, products, and processes for a range of for-profit and non-profit clients. Her experiences span from digital games and interactive media, to venture philanthropy, design and strategy consulting for Fortune 500 companies. She is a co-founder of The Makery, adjuncts at Parsons School for Design, directs awards at Games For Change, and tinkers for start up endeavors.

PresenTense is a community of innovators and entrepreneurs, thinkers and leaders, creators and educators, from around the world, who employ entrepreneurship as a tool to enrich communal life, grow local economies and solve critical issues facing society.

 

Hardware generously provided by     

 

Developers and equipment generously provided by   

Register Now! First 35 registrants are free with promo code FIRST35

Developers/designers/other tech volunteers, please register here.  

Students, please register here. *Students must be accompanied by a teacher and the school must possess written permission from the students' families in order for students to attend the event. 

 

Observers, please click here

FAQs
  1. What is a Hackathon?
  2. Who should attend the Atid Hackathon?
  3. What kind of tech professionals will be in attendance?
  4. Can I bring a team from my school?
  5. Why are high school students invited?
  6. I have an idea that I would like to hack. What should I do?
  7. Is there anything I can do before the event to be more prepared?
  8. I don't have an idea. Can I still attend?
  9. I would like to register, but I might think of an idea later. Should I wait?
  10. If I can pitch an idea on the morning of the event, why should I share it now?
  11. Will every idea be hacked?
  12. I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it's a good fit. What should I do?
  13. Do I need to bring my own food?
  14. What is Impact Hub and where is it?
A Hackathon begins with some participants pitching ideas and/or challenges to solve (For example: "I want to create an online Tanach trivia game" or "I want to figure out a better system for taking attendance."). Other attendees form diverse teams--including tech professionals--around the ideas of interest to them. The teams spend the remainder of the time working towards prototypes that they present at the end of the day. Voting determines the top three solutions.
WhoShouldAttendWho should attend the Atid Hackathon?
Any Jewish day school professional or tech professional who is interested in using technology and the power of the group to enhance Jewish education. A limited number of spaces are also available for high school students.
whattypeWhat kind of tech professionals will be in attendance?
We have recruited web developers, game designers, software developers, IT professionals and programmers. We will include video producers, app developers, product developers, social media and marketing experts, etc as needed. 
canibringCan I bring a team from my school?
You are more than welcome to have multiple attendees from your school pitch ideas and also join teams, but each team may not be composed of more than two professionals from the same school. 
highschoolWhy are high school students invited?
The Hackathon is built around the principles of Design Thinking, which is "human centered innovation." In this process, you begin by gathering information from the end user. Even if your end users are not high school students, they may still provide valuable insights from the student perspective. In addition, we believe that co-creating education solutions will result in more creative and more useful products. 
ideaI have an idea that I would like to hack. What should I do?
When you register, indicate that you would like to pitch an idea and provide a brief description of what that idea is.
preparationIs there anything I can do before the event to be more prepared?

Because this event is only a single day, the more you do prior to the event, the farther you may get. However, it is equally possible for you to do nothing prior to the event. For example, if you pitch an idea, you will need to spend time researching and brainstorming. This may mean that you might leave with a prototype plan, but not an actual prototype. You may get a head start by doing some research before the event. For example, if your idea is to build a Tanach triva game, you might talk to students in your target age grouping about the kinds of games they enjoy playing. You might do some online searching for other similar games. You might talk to other educators about the categories of information that should be included. Engaging in this process may cause you to realize that your idea needs a redesign or that it isn't actually addressing the problem. You will then have time to pivot and construct a more relevant plan. Again, all of this is build into the structure of the event, so if you don't get to this, don't worry!

noideaI don't have an idea. Can I still attend?
Of course! Most attendees will not be pitching ideas. If you choose not to pitch, you will join a team to work on an idea that is of interest/value to you.
laterideaI would like to register, but I might think of an idea later. Should I wait?
No. You will always have the option of adding an idea to the pool. You can even show up on the morning of the event and pitch an idea.
If we know what your idea is in advance, we can make sure to recruit tech professionals in that area, as opposed to going with our best guess.
everyideahackWill every idea be hacked?
Not necessarily. If fewer than three people are interested in your idea, the team will not progress. Instead, the individuals will join other teams.
Be in touch! Call Bryna Leider at 646-472-5385 or email bleider@JewishEdProject.org for support.
foodDo I need to bring my own food?
No. Breakfast, lunch and snacks (certified Kosher) will be served.
Impact Hub is a shared work space located at 394 Broadway, 10013