Program Profile

Digital Promise Global

Building Apps Across Cultures

|
  • High School/Grades 9-12

Digital Promise’s Building Apps Across Cultures connects high school-aged youth in Lebanon and the United States through binational teams that design and build mobile apps addressing global and societal issues focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Designed in partnership with MAD-Learn and the International Education Association, this virtual exchange engages participants in a series of asynchronous activities and live video discussions. Guided by teachers and MAD-Learn facilitators, participants build global competence and design thinking skills. Each year, participants will celebrate their work as part of the Digital Promise YouthMADE Festival.

Activities

Through lessons and discussions with their teachers, participants will first learn about the UN SDGs and meet peers from their partner classroom. They will then form binational teams to create mobile apps that address local and global challenges centered on the UN SDGs. Leveraging MAD-Learn’s interactive platform and other collaboration tools, participants will asynchronously build their app utilizing the design thinking process (Ideate, Plan, Design, Build, Test, and Launch). Throughout the program, they  will also participate in four live video exchanges.

Program Details

Number of Participants

1,260

U.S. States and Territories Reached
  • All U.S. States and Territories
Countries and Territories Reached
  • Lebanon
Length of Exchange

Seven weeks (two to three hours of synchronous and/or asynchronous activities per week)

If you are interested in bringing this program to your institution, complete this form.

Building Apps Across Cultures is implemented by Digital Promise Global and is supported by the J. Christopher Stevens Virtual Exchange Initiative (JCSVEI). JCSVEI is a U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs program administered by the Aspen Institute.