How do student hackathons enhance study skills?

04 Jun 2019

Alternatively known as a hack day, hackfest or codefest, university hackathons are gaining notoriety across the student world.

Usually a day-long event, student software programmers, tech developers, graphic designers and more come together to build and design something innovative and inspiring.

Despite the negative terms associated with ‘hacking’, a hackathon refers to building something new together.

The best part about it is that you don’t necessarily need expert programming experience; supportive mentors are often on-hand to assist with any queries or problems participants face throughout the day!

Ideas are flowing at this weekend’s #qiskit hackathon! 💡

¡Las ideas fluyen en este fin de semana de #qiskit hackathon! 💡 #qiskitmadrid pic.twitter.com/BtOZHc0KsI

— Qiskit (@qiskit) May 25, 2019

How do hackathons promote study skills?

During your hackathon experience, you’ll get to talk to attendees and look for teammates.

A core character-building exercise, you’ll emerge from your comfort zone and build your confidence and communication skills. In some tasks, you may even have to take the lead and guide your team to victory.

Putting your practical skills into practice, hackathons open up an experimentation space for innovators to take centre stage. From new eco-solutions to visionary prototypes, you’ll be able to test out your designs and receive plenty of feedback about the idea.

Making new friends and strategising study skills you previously acquired, it’s a win-win event for all to attend.

Elorm Axolu is one of our selected participants for the upcoming hackathon.
Prior to the National Mobile App Dev Program, Elorm was a web developer and an IOT enthusiast. She applied to try out mobile app development and was not disappointed.

#GTLevents #AppsGhana pic.twitter.com/ykPCOkoNig

— Ghana Tech Lab (@GhanaTechLab) May 29, 2019

Networking and connections

While hacking away, you’ll get to meet many new faces from the industry, all there to witness new student innovations and help kick-start their talent in forward-thinking companies.

The hackathon you plan to attend may focus its tasks around a certain theme. If so, be sure to research keywords associated with that topic and any recent innovations. The further out-of-the-box your thinking is, the further you’ll progress in the event.

You can also check out previous hackathons your university has held to view the expected schedule and see how the challenges are monitored.

Even if you don’t win, you’ll still have learnt a lot from attending the hackathon and from being surrounded by fellow designers, programmers and changemakers.

So, what are you waiting for? Have a go at a hackathon and see where your study skills will take you…

Ocala students getting ready for the #Hackathon @HPE today! #alumROCKit #dpvils pic.twitter.com/JYsIr5xcOV

— Ocalasteamacademy (@ocalasteam) May 31, 2019