Lesson Objectives

• Understand what hackathons are and what they could do for education

• Explore how the hackathon model could transform educator collaboration

• Learn about AURA AAC, an AI-powered communication tool built during a hackathon

Do Now

Before we get started, take a moment to try out this AI prompt:

Design a 2-day educational hackathon focused on solving [specific educational challenge]. Include a schedule breakdown, necessary resources, team formation strategies, and evaluation criteria for final projects.

Participants: [list titles of participants]

Challenges to solve: [list challenges/goals]

Ask me clarifying questions until you are 95% certain you can provide expert-level guidance on this task. Thank you!

What We’re Working with Today

Today we'll explore the concept of educational hackathons - those intense, collaborative sprints where innovation happens at breakneck speed. As I write this, I'm in the final hours of a hackathon where I've been building AURA AAC, an AI-powered communication app for non-verbal students. This experience has me wondering: what if we brought this same energy to educational innovation?

I Do, We Do, You Do

I Do: Here’s What I Created

This week, I dove headfirst into hackathon mode. While I initially planned to submit GoalMagic, my AI-powered goal-writing app, I pivoted to AURA AAC—an augmentative and alternative communication app powered by AI. The hackathon format forced me to focus, make quick decisions, and build something usable in just days.

Me, participating in a hackathon? As I’ve done many times these past 8-9 months, I pinch myself thinking that I knew nothing about AI, much less coding with AI, less than a year ago. It’s wild times we’re living in. The world is literally your oyster if you choose to take a chance on yourself.

Tools I used:

• Lovable - an AI builder, whose team organized this hackathon. I used it to rapidly build out the user interface.

• Anthropic - a sponsor of the event. This is the parent company of Claude. I used its API for my LLM.

• Supabase - a sponsor of the event. I used it to store my icons. Eventually, I would add user authentication.

• ElevenLabs - a sponsor of the event. I added voice options to my app.

• Google AI Studio Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental model - This is a very new model that came out this week, completely free to use in Google AI Studio, and it is incredible. It walked me through Supabase edge functions and troublshooting errors.

We Do: Let’s Build This Together

This is something I often do when possible—schedule out extended blocks of time to rapidly plan with colleagues. Well, now I’m going to call them educational hackathons.

Follow this step-by-step guide to organize a mini educational hackathon:

1. Define the challenge: Focus on a specific problem in your school or classroom

2. Block dedicated time: Schedule 4-8 uninterrupted hours with colleagues

3. Establish teams: Mix expertise levels and subject areas

4. Set clear deliverables: Define what a "minimum viable solution" looks like

5. Present solutions: Share what each team created, no matter how rough

You Do: Your Mini Task for the Week

Now it's your turn! Identify one persistent challenge in your classroom or district that need fresh thinking. Carve out just 2 hours this weekend to sprint toward a solution—no distractions, just focused creation. What could you build, design, or reimagine in those 2 hours?

I want to organize a mini-hackathon for educators focused on [your specific educational challenge]. Help me design a 2-hour agenda, including warm-up activities, ideation techniques, rapid prototyping methods, and a simple evaluation framework.

Ask me clarifying questions until you are 95% certain you can provide expert-level guidance on this task. Thank you!

Think-Pair-Share

• Think of 3 classroom challenges that might benefit from a hackathon approach

• Pair up with a colleague to brainstorm a potential 4-hour "mini-hackathon" you could organize

• Share your hackathon ideas with our community of educators and connect with other Edumators who are transforming their classrooms with AI and automation.

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