Introducing the Gates Foundation's College Knowledge Challenge Winners

The competition was launched in September by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with the aim of attracting entrepreneurs and developers to create completely new, amazing educational applications on the Facebook platform. Called the College Knowledge Challenge , the competition began with the EdTech hackathon, organized jointly by the Gates Foundation and Facebook at the headquarters of the social network at Menlo Park.



The competition called for developers of all ages to create applications that would help future college students at the stage of selecting an educational institution, enrolling in it, and also providing financial assistance.

The hackathon participants, who divided the initial prize pool in September, entered the competition for the main prize - $ 100,000. Finally, Gates Foundation and Facebook announced 21 projects, the creators of which will take the prize with them.



But before moving on to announcing the winners, it’s worth answering a question that arises in some readers: why it was decided to support the creation of applications for Facebook, while in the education system there are more serious problems. Why, for example, not spend this money on the introduction of Wi-Fi in schools, which would help low-income students with Internet access and mastering computer technologies?

This question is answered by Stacey Childress, Deputy Director for Education of the Gates Foundation. She said that social networks have become the main means of building a circle of communication outside the immediate environment, which is especially important for low-income students. Thus, Facebook contributes not only to academic success, but also stimulates perseverance in students. Thanks to the social network, students feel more involved in public life and much more willing to stay in school.

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In turn, technology has proven its ability to democratize access to information, as well as its dissemination. Elliot Schrage, vice president of public policy for Facebook, added that the Open Graph information exchange system from Facebook allows students to immediately share any content with each other without any difficulty. Thus, according to Elliot Schrage, the involvement of the social network in the process of education will allow to radically change the lives of students and how they learn.

The main focus of the competition was on applications for low-income students and freshmen in particular. It is worth noting that many winners seek to gain income from the growing popularity of trends in educational technologies, personalization of the educational process, with an emphasis on first-year students and students with low incomes.



Now is the time to move on to announcing the winners. At the time of publication of this article, the official source provided information only on 20 projects without a single application from New York students called WOOP, which I hope will not make you feel deprived. So, to the winners.



Applyful . The application is a platform for choosing a college. Applyful helps applicants to collect, accumulate and exchange information among themselves on colleges of interest, as well as unite in groups of peers, establishing interaction with each other at the entrance stage. This approach allows future students to make a more informed choice of school. At the moment, is at the testing stage.



Career Connect from ConnectEDU and CareerVillage. This application came into being as a product of the ConnectEDU collaboration, a company that connects students and career opportunities, and CareerVillage , the creator of social games that prepare students for career building. The resulting application gives students the opportunity to receive, through a social network, answers to questions about the planning of their education in college and further career development. The application provides a search for questions, but each user of the application can answer the question.



Beach 12 CoachMe - the app is designed to provide college students with automatic alerts on their mobile phones and Facebook accounts to keep their users up to date with any deadlines. A student will be rewarded with a special mark for completing each assignment on time, after which he will be able to share his achievements with peers. Ultimately, CoachMe aims to help students master the skills and habits that increase their chances of success in college.



College Abacus is a project that provides an opportunity to compare prices for higher education in educational institutions around the world. Available in Spanish and English, College Abacus allows prospective students and their families to find and compare information on tuition (tuition less the subsidy provided) in more than 2,500 schools.



College Connect from the State of Michigan, the University of Michigan and Oxford Internet University - an application designed to create for students a clear image of the school on Facebook. By identifying individuals who can be a reliable source of information about the college, as well as providing information retrieval, College Connect is aimed primarily at first-year students who want to be aware of college life. The application will be developed and evaluated by Bernie Hogan from the University of Oxford, Christine Greenhow from the University of Michigan and Nicole Ellison from the University of Michigan.



CollegeGo from The College Board - immediately worth noting that The College Board is a non-profit organization whose goal is to connect students to college opportunities and achieve their success. The application from this organization offers students an effective tool for planning their education: the educational process, the study of the profession, familiarity with the college and tuition fees. The application implements a step-by-step approach to the planning process and a visual representation of the progress for each student, and also added its own system of support and encouragement of students.



CollegeZen from The College People is a product from a young startup from Pittsburgh, founded by Wahab Owolabi and Neil Soni. The creators of the startup are taken to improve the availability of colleges and provide an effective means of administering education. So, their first social application, CollegeZen, simplifies the process of finding and selecting a suitable college, as well as paying for education, especially for promising students and those parents who consider college the best place for any student.



Degree'd by Nuvana and 10,000 Degreese - created by two companies Nuvana and 10,000 Degreese, the application uses a gaming framework to provide low-income students and their families with a comprehensive curriculum. Using the mechanism of learning through the game, which combines the actions and obtaining useful information, Degree'd gives students access to the right information and helps them achieve success in education.



The FAFSA Community from NerdScholar - this app brings students, parents and administrators together via the Facebook platform. The project aims to improve the financial literacy of students through engaging the social network community and peer groups, which will help students, especially low-income and first-year students, to achieve their goals in college. It is also worth adding that NerdScholar is a product of NerdWallet, a company that helps students make more informed decisions about choosing a higher education institution.



Unigo's FastForward is a project by which any student can make a plan for their future. The application includes tools for visualizing possible career paths, drawing up a personalized action plan and placing the necessary resources to get started and implement your ideas. FastForward allows you to track your career path using Facebook Timeline and your own photos. Unigo adds FastForward to its growing collection of tools as the largest college resource.



GradBadge from GradGuru - GradGears 'mission is to increase students' chances of successfully graduating from college and accelerating the achievement of academic goals. The company's first product, GradGuru, is a “pocket advisor” associated with the social networking community. Earning points from their peers in this application, students will understand what behavior and what actions will quickly lead them to a successful graduation from college. GradBadge uses the GradGuru platform, Mozilla Open Badges and Facebook.



I'm First from The Center for Student Opportunity - Center for Student Opportunity (CSO), a national nonprofit organization that supports first-year students during college and enrollment, whose app collects stories and stories from current students to inspire and support students, preparing to become students. Thanks to this application, it will be easier for future students to adapt to a new life and succeed in college.



Logrado Mission Control Center - Logrado is both a social and mobile help system that helps a student to enroll, adapt, and successfully graduate from college. Using their mobile phones or Facebook accounts, students gain access to a list of activities that help them prepare for college. Mission Control uses the Facebook platform and allows students to collaborate with their peers, as well as create groups of family members, friends, peers, to enlist support and increase their chances of success. Logrado provides, in particular, low-income students and first-year students with background information, a way of communication and individual support.



PossibilityU from Cambium Enterprises is a project designed to help prospective students in choosing a college that fits all criteria: academic, social and financial. Often, students too quickly make one of the most important decisions in their lives, spending no more than an hour to think. PossibilityU offers tools for more detailed analysis and informed decision making. The application provides a personalized search, as well as a visual presentation of important compromises in the decision-making process, thereby allowing the student to be constantly informed.



Raise from Raise Labs - Raise Labs has rethought how scholarships are awarded and distributed, in particular, to low-income students and first-year students. The Raise platform allows schoolchildren to earn “micro-scholarships” compared to college scholarships starting in ninth grade. The basis for payment are their individual achievements and the progress made in graduation. Raise helps students fulfill their college ambitions more confidently and adds transparency to the scholarship distribution process.



Step4College - the application aims to make the college admission process more transparent and understandable for each student, especially for the poor. The team plans to build an application that provides an exhaustive list of college preparation tasks that will take into account the personal needs of each student and the needs, including administrative requirements. The app will use social media platforms, such as Facebook, so students can publish their accomplishments in completing tasks, chat with friends, and access additional features.



Tractus Insight from Tractus Education - the application allows students to create a personalized list of colleges. The team combined information from various aids, advice from a college counselor and people that a student trusts to in one application so that he, his family and counselors have the opportunity to study and select the most appropriate college.



The Melville Institute Transfer Bootcamp is an online reference for college students who want to continue their studies at a university. The application helps students to create an individual college plan, identify the main tasks, finish college on time, choose the right courses to prepare for the university and better know their opportunities to receive funding for education. Transfer Bootcamp is designed to make university education more accessible to millions of students.



What's Your Road from Roadtrip Nation - Roadtrip Nation was born in 2001 when a group of friends decided to go on a journey with a very simple goal: to communicate with people who do what they love, then it would be much clearer how to build a happy life. What began as an ordinary journey ultimately resulted in an entire series consisting of many video interviews, as well as various activities and even training programs that help students, including the disadvantaged, to find their right path in life. The latest child of Roadtrip Nation is the What's Your Road app, in which students can use the Facebook platform to track various life paths according to their aspirations and even interact with mentors in these areas.



Get Schooled Zombie College is an application from a non-profit organization that attracts and motivates students using technology, media and the introduction of modern culture in students' lives. Zombie College combines both game and learning moments through which future students in a game form will be able to go through all the steps necessary for entering the college.



How do you submit the application? What are the most promising?