Among the many educational and entrepreneurial initiatives of the Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF), a special place is dedicated to Gyumri and Vanadzor Technology Centers. The Vanadzor Technology Center (VTC) in particular marked a notable achievement recently, as two out of the three winning teams of the “Media and Information Literacy Hackathon 2022” held in Yerevan, represented VTC.

In today’s blog, we cover two finalist teams that represented the VTC at the event. VTC supported both teams since their creation and encouraged them to participate in the hackathon. The teams were established from young beneficiaries of the “Websites and web services development with C# (ASP.net)” and “Graphic Design” courses, conducted by EIF and VTC within the framework of the Armenia Workforce Development Activity (AWDA).

“Media Representative”

The “Media Representative” team has 3 members: Ani and Alla were students of the “Graphic Design” course and Artyom participated in JavaScript/ ReactJS course. run at the Vanadzor Technology Center. Ani learned about the hackathon from VTC employees and told her classmates and two of them decided to join her and participate.

“Media Representative” team members

“It’s been a lot of hard work because we only had 5 days to prepare,” noted Artyom.

According to the team, the atmosphere was very friendly, and all 5 teams representing VTC supported each other and were eager to bring victory to their hometown. Their efforts were crowned with success – out of 3 winning teams of the hackathon, 2 are from Vanadzor.

“Media Representative” team members

What Ani’s team learned in the “Graphic Design” course proved to be vital, as design was one of the key points of the presentation of their game. When asked why she wanted to participate, Ani said:

“Back in 2020, during the war, we realized the importance of media literacy. Our team was united by the idea of building a media-literate society, that was our motivation. Our project’s target audience are children and teenagers aged 10 to 15.”

“Media Representative” team’s project consists of 3 parts: materials concerning media literacy, information war, and materials on the protection of personal data. The demo version of the game is ready, and when the players pass all stages of the game, they get a certificate of media literacy.

Ani and Alla worked on design and content, and Artyom prepared the website. The scope of their work expanded recently, as they received an offer to digitize the “Media Expert” table game and create a web version.

“Media Representative” team members

The team shared advice for young people living in marzes. “Fight for your dreams and goals, and participate in volunteer activities,” said the “Graphic Design” students. “Attend as many courses and youth programs as you can, because to succeed in life, you need to gain knowledge and use every opportunity!”

“Csharks”

“Csharks” team has 6 members, each working on a different part of the project. Artyush is the team lead, he is involved in the creation of illustrations and comics. Arman, Davit, and Samvel worked on the website, while Yeranuhi and Julia worked on the content. First, they wanted to make animation but later switched to comics because they are more in demand.

“Csharks” team members

The team created a story about 3 sharks, which illustrates the importance of media literacy. The characters and the course the team members attend at VTC inspired the name of the team. “We also listened to “Shark” by Imagine Dragons a lot while we were working,” added Artyush.

According to the “Csharks” team, VTC is a support hub for the youth of Vanadzor. The team members’ course instructor Sergey also supported them throughout the hackathon. The team was crucial, they said, as there was limited time, and the hackathon was difficult.

“Csharks” team members

Now the website is almost ready, and the 3 sharks’ story will be available in 3 languages. The website will also have quizzes, through which users can acquire new knowledge of media literacy.

“Csharks” team members

“Cshark” team’s main motivation is to become the change in their community and the country and to prove that young people can unite around an idea and succeed. The 6 “Csharks” shared advice for other young people living in marzes: use every opportunity to learn and accept challenges, and prove that any difficulty can be overcome.

Initiatives such as the “Media and Information Literacy Hackathon 2022” represent a great opportunity for young IT students and enthusiasts to test their newly acquired knowledge and search for solutions to real-life problems. We congratulate the winners and wish them further success in their important projects!