App could restrict access to social media/all other apps until quiz is completed

Partnership with local high schools; allow students to preload a weeks-worth of content on school wifi

• SE clubs that allow for elective-hours access to computer lab

Partnership with local universities, let college students come in and broaden high schoolers' horizons

Reward could be subsidized/free school lunch, some payment that is more tangible and pertinent to schoolchildren than crypto

• Guaranteed placement into a bootcamp at X tokens, guaranteed postsecondary experience through commitment?

Start with a broad top-down overview of technical skills and allow for specialization in later modules, more of a catch-all program than singling out rare students who are already interested/aware of SE opportunities

App should support multiple accounts, many households are crowded and may not be able to support a 1:1 child to technology requirement

Implement video learning modules? Youtube and tiktok most cited forms of social media from interviews

Emphasis on LinkedIn for school, getting kids aware and considerate of life after high school can make them more keen on learning technical skills

"Commission" for teachers, faculty who recommend high-performing students get partial tokens. Makes staff more accessible for off-the-curriculum learning opportunities

App Features

• Daily quizzes

• Separate section for self-paced, online, guided lessons --> will focus on frontend web development and follow typical frontend progression (HTML, CSS, Java script)

  • Interface: the screen can map out the lessons so students can see their progression

• Create a competitive component / leaderboard to motivate students. Potentially could offer rewards or bonus points to those in the top five each week

• Section for additional resources and learning materials (articles, videos, etc.)

Demographics / Targeting

• Currently partnered with 6 public schools in the area --> could reach out to other public and private schools in the area to partner with them and broaden the program's reach

• Can market through different social media channels to reach target audience

  • Facebook / Facebook groups could be a good way to reach parents who want the app for their kids, potentially schools for partnerships and companies for funding as well

  • LinkedIn can be another route for reaching companies to partner with for funding purposes

Rewards

• Converting game tokens to real monetary value. Some ideas:

  • Crypto currency that could be used to make real world purchases

  • Purchases within the app (unlocking special lessons, access to signing up for speaker events or shadowing opportunities)

Funding / Pricing Model

• Continue to partner with companies and look for sponsors

• Another way to generate revenue could be by offering a package price to schools (so the schools would pay for the app, making it free for students to use)

  • These funds could then be funneled back into paying for rewards

  • Companies would need an incentive for buying a subscription plan: the app offers access to SE education, which is something most schools don't offer

• Hackathons

  • We could see if there are local companies we can partner with. They could sponsor the event and propose a real business question for students to solve

    • If a team does well, could even see their solution implemented

      • Also a great way to promote the Younglings app and program

App Design:

• “Duolingo teaching format” → Teach coding languages almost like teaching a foreign language

  • translating like if this happens, do this = if statement or do this N number of times = for loop

• Start with multiple choice to teach syntax and then moving to more free response questions with coding

• Customizable app (you can change the icon of the app on your home screen or background color) → when they reach a certain level they can change different things

• For teaching frontend: the result of the code needs to show in a “browser” after they write the correct code

• Leaderboard + competitive aspect to motivate students and get them to invite their friends as well

• Resources within app: glossary with coding terms + videos with tutorials

The app should mostly focus on teaching beginner coding concepts to inspire students to pursue software engineering

At a certain level, the students should be encouraged on the app to move to a computer, so they can work on a full scale project in a text editor → need a “desktop version” of the app

Use notifications every day to encourage students to do their daily 10 short coding questions 

• Reward with token when they build up their learning streak and show some sort of  negative visual when they lose their streak

Need to have the app display the progress of the student, so they can see how far they’ve come and motivate them to keep learning and complete the app

In order to make the app more fun and like a “game”, teaching some broad problem solving skills can involve less coding and more “game” like activities

• E.g. give them a problem and have them break it down into smaller steps (like how you would approach a coding problem)

• Make coding seem easy by breaking it down into smaller bits

the app's popularity is very important, so to increase this, the following is very important:

• reaching out to high schools

• emphasizing the importance of education

• aggressive advertising even in problematic neighborhoods

• Adds on social media, etc.

The app is token-based but connects students also with other students who are studying abroad or affiliated with these issues

Within the app, the reward system will probably bring the most success BUT there must be more clarity on how this will work

Like the language app babbel focused on making people continue through smart easy-answer systems