The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs UP Diliman proudly congratulates Team Optimizing Optimism for participating with honor and excellence at the Digital Inclusion Challenge, an international hackathon based in Canada, from October 23 to November 1, 2020. A team of five students from UP Diliman and one from Hindu College, they were one of the 150 teams to participate in the 10-day hackathon.

The team overcame the challenges and obstacles to make it to the list of top 10 teams to present on November 7, 2020. Pitching in front of such judges as the UN Secretary-General, a Canadian senator, as well as representatives of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the team won 2nd prize, with a prize sponsored by the TD Bank.

The team was composed of:

• Miguel Balao (BS Economics)
• Gianna Burgos (BS Computer Science)
• Jamila Domingo (BS Business Administration and Accounting)
• Kayla Tiongson (BS Community Nutrition)
• Jelena Garcia (BS Business Administration)
• Savinay Sharma (Statistics, Hindu College)

This year’s Digital Inclusion Challenge had the theme of “Embracing Digital Education.” In line with this, the team tackled the problem of education for persons with disabilities and proposed the development of an app called STABLE (Students who are ABLE), a learning management system designed for students with hearing impairment. 

The app was designed to help facilitate learning by making it sensitive to the unique needs of the hearing-impaired, offering subtitles for lessons and lessons on Filipino Sign Language interpretation. Also designed to make learning fun and engaging, it features an interactive and intuitive UI/UX and a gamified environment. The solution was conceived and proposed by conducting interviews with stakeholders such as educators and partner institutions.

The project successfully brings to light the needs of underserved students and learners, whose experiences have been largely excluded from predominant educational policies.

Learn more about STABLE in Team Optimizing Optimism’s YouTube presentation: