Tech Effect

Inspiring the next generation of human-centred leaders in technology through community-driven computer science education.

The lack of a computer science education curriculum in Egyptian schools deprives students of a chance to interpret the world around them and lessens participation in the digital society; Enter Tech effect.

Tech effect is an initiative deliberated through the next coders' society organization. It has gained the support of the ministry of youth and sports in Egypt to bring computer science education to youth in marginalized communities.

Our solution draws from different problems in the Egyptian community. Still, its crux lies in creating opportunities for young Egyptian professionals working in the tech field to give back to a younger generation and serve as role models.

We have designed a 3-hour computer science + social impact curriculum to give students (ages 12 -19) foundational knowledge and help them tackle relevant global issues through their newly gained knowledge.

Our unique pedagogy depends on young professionals from underdeveloped communities to teach the curriculum sessions aided by a professional development guide created by us. As an incentive, we offer monetary prizes to the leaders of the most successful sessions. They can use the money as seed funds for their social innovation business ideas.

We are solving two problems that are closely related. Looking at the chronology of a student's life from an underprivileged community in a country like Egypt, we find that during high school, students have minimum chances of becoming exposed to a career in technology. A comparison between the number of hour of code events in the united states (24984) and Egypt (74) since 2017 shows stark underdevelopment. Combined with the lack of computer science curriculums in schools, this underrepresentation of computer science as a clear career prospect leads to many things: 

• Misinformation about computer science as a method only for hacking and disruption which have contributed to a rise in cybercrime estimated to be around 190% between 2012-17

• Inability to meet rising demand in the Egyptian market (projected 460,000 new IT jobs by 2024).

• Lack of diversity in the tech field. As of June 2020, the percentage of Egyptian women working in scientific and technical activities was only 2.1%.

Even when students find themselves studying technology, they still are faced with many problems that strife innovation. Students in higher education have reported a lack of soft skills experience and low funding for emerging startups.

The lack of computer science education for teenagers is closely tied to young professionals' challenges. We aim to produce a hybrid solution that serves both parties.

We are mainly working to serve two factions:

• Students (aged 12-19) without access to computer science education.

  • Our solution will benefit those students by providing them with a computer science education centred around developing their abilities to contribute to the world. They will receive training in a 180 min session about computer science and emerging technologies and project-based learning instruction that directs their knowledge to solve an issue that afflicts them that they will later present.

  • The curriculum treasures inclusivity of both sexes and subtly eliminates any biases about the viability of cs as a career option for only a specific demographic.

  • Delivery of the curriculum is dependant on young professionals from the same communities as the students, which will help students view them as role models and increase diversity.

• Young professionals (19+) who need soft skills development and funding for social innovation businesses.

  • The tech effect program presents itself as a unique opportunity for young people. It helps them give back to their communities, gain soft skills like leadership, event management, advocacy, volunteering experience and a chance to fund their business.

  • Offering funds for the hosts of the events propel small entrepreneurs and ensures the quality of instruction by introducing healthy competition.

As an educator and founder of the next coders' society, I have expanded outreach computer science education opportunities since 2019. I managed a content writing team that outputted computer science educational content that reached more than 100k viewers. I also planned and hosted events with experts in the field, helped teens gain internships and jobs in the industry, and curated courses for children to help them with early-age cs literacy. I also furthered my intuitive sense of designing cs ed experiences by interning as a curriculum designer at code combat.

My experience as an analyst at the UN ESCWA helped me better understand the market needs of graduates and young professionals, such as soft skills currently needed, trends in industries, and opportunities for funding emerging businesses.

Besides my professional experience, developing our solution has been closely monitored by representatives from the nation-builders foundation, u.s. Embassy in Egypt and the ministry of youth and sport. They immensely helped us with the design of our initiative and the deployment of our prototype. We worked with students directly and understood more about the students' responses to our curriculum.

We tested our curriculum in many communities, but mainly through virtual events and courses administered by the next coders’ organization gathering audiences from more than 16 Egyptian governorates and regions. We also did on-ground tests but those were mainly at schools in new Cairo. The number of students who have tested our curriculum is currently around 300. 

As for the professional development guide, we have been gathering feedback from young professionals since 2020 interviewing more than 60+ subjects mostly in higher education. Their construction has been imminently helpful in curating and editing the professional development guide.

Currently, we have managed to allocate some funding for the prizes and we are prepared to gauge the first batch of volunteers between January and April of 2022.

At its heart, our project is about technology education. Our curriculum (a link for its prototype provide above) discusses many aspects of technology. It starts by creating a fundamental understanding for the student about what technology is, how it functions, and its different applications. Then, It moves on to distil many misconceptions about technology by eliminating gender and cultural biases. After, It mentions the different applications of technology in our lives by explaining the role of AI in solving climate change or How robotics detonate hundreds of explosives each year. Though students get a chance to program, the main objective is to gain a human-centric innovation approach to creating technologies and not necessarily become proficient in programming.

Students themselves take part in the creation process by developing their prototype that tackles an important relevant to them employing a technological application. In the video above, the problem students were asked to develop solutions for was the rise of eating disorders and mental illness during the pandemic.

Currently, 300 students have attended our events. In the upcoming year, we hope we can recruit 100 young professionals and 1500+ student attendees.

Our impact goals are to:

• Stratify computer science education as an essential educational discipline for success in the 21st century. We hope to attract the attention of the ministry of education and work with them on a permanent solution for inserting computer science into the educational regime of middle and high school students.
• Change the public outlook on computer science. We want to demystify the subject, make it more approachable to learners, and eliminate any misrepresentation around the discipline ( only for men, requires geniuses, etc.) or its uses ( computer programmers hack people).
• Mobilize young professionals. We aim to help young professionals in developing countries gain soft skills and a chance for funding through practising philanthropy, giving back to their community, becoming role models, and increasing diversity in the tech field.
• Maximize outreach. We realize that computer science instruction isn't trailing behind in Egypt. Other countries in the African continent are also making that realization, and we see an opportunity for help. We want to start a charter run by natives of African countries to test our curriculum and adjust it as needed, considering cultural and economic contexts.

In the year 2022, We aspire to

• Enrol 1500 students (equal gender representation) in sessions administered by the young professionals we have trained. Moreover, we hope to partner with IBM skills build for Africa to enrol at least 50% of students in long-term CS courses and monitor their progression.
• Train 100 young professionals on soft skills and subsequently monitor the resulting development in their careers.
• Help 10 best event hosts fund their social innovation business.
• Measure community views on careers in technology, gender biases in stem industries, and prosperous uses of a CS education through questionnaires after the sessions.
• Extend our sessions to neighbouring countries through student chapters.

We would love to expand our sessions to more schools. However, there are many legal hoops relative to permits and curriculum patents that we must go through first to make that transition. Currently, we have to depend on session leads to organize the events and gather audiences independently. Nonetheless, if we can host the events at school, I believe we can reach a much broader demographic.

Malak Hatem (she/her) Operations manager :

Possibly the most commanding presence you will ever meet. Despite being only seventeen, Malak's dedication and composure allow her to perfect scheduling the team needs, mediate stakeholders' conversations, and ensure every deadline is met. Her determination and perfectionism at work are unparalleled by any other experience, except perhaps when she's diligently playing the piano.

Hajar Makram (she/her) Public relations specialist:

As a student and a girl in STEM, Hajar feels strongly about maximizing opportunities for other youth trying to break into the world of technology; Having come across her fair share of struggles, She never abandoned her dream to race and is currently working as a PR agent for racers while balancing her studies and helping university teams build race cars in her free time.

Dina Hazem (she/her) Head of Marketing: 

A dentist in the making, Dina is what you need to start a successful business. Her meticulous attention to detail while also viewing the bigger picture makes her a great dentist and a fantastic marketing strategist who can optimize engagement, perform a swot analysis and perfect a message's delivery, all while upkeeping with her killer sense of style, of course.

Mohamed Haggag (He/him) Curriculum designer and developer:

I will have you convinced that I can do everything at once, which is far from the truth Malak will tell you, but I digress. I'm drawn to multitasking because I like wearing different hats and embracing different ideologies, leading me to curriculum design. Every word I type is interpreted differently by each learner, and I enjoy contemplating every possibility. When I'm not teaching or designing, or training other session leads, you can find me coding—my second favourite medium for endless possibilities.

The Egyptian ministry of youth and sports: supporting us in piloting the solution and gaining governmental support towards expansion.