Collocate

Collocate is an APP that supports, connects, and empowers marginalized children to explore science with zero-to-minimal financial burden.

Collocate is designed to create a cost-effective and easy to access STEM education system for marginalized children across the globe. It’s a free, interactive application suite designed for children from low-income families who cannot afford or access the lab equipment and classes necessary for scientific exploration. On the Collocate iOS platform, kids from all over the world are able to connect with passionate teachers who share my vision of STEM equity, and can access a database of experiments and materials that need only the most basic materials, from water and paper to even litter off the street. With Collocate, students are able to make simple machines and work in online study groups, and there are message boards and forums for them to post their progress and success. Collocate supports marginalized learners by making education more accessible, and eliminating many of the entry barriers that prevent marginalized families from seeking STEM education for their children.

In 2020 I met a girl from Hunan who had traveled to Shenzhen in the hope of a better education. Like me, she loved science and dreamt of making a real difference in the world. However, her family simply couldn’t afford to attend a school with a strong STEM program. In fact, they were struggling to make ends meet at all. Studying science empowered me to fight for my dreams and reach for the stars. But this conversation made me see that I was the lucky one. According to UNICEF, over 103 million children in China are still living in back-breaking poverty with no hope for education or a future. This number grows to 617 million when estimated globally. Moreover, what eduction resources are available are often closed off to women and minorities, effectively shutting out a vast talent pool from accessing the education they need not only to rise out of poverty, but to have a real impact on the world. Inquisitive and talented young people are completely segregated from success and from a bright future by factors such as geography and religious extremism. These are people who might have gone on to cure cancer or discover a new sustainable source of energy, who might have been astronauts or physicists or engineers. Education is the silver bullet to poverty, yet those who are often in the most need for it are also those who go overlooked. That’s why I founded Collocate.

Shenzhen is a city of promise, but also of inequality—young children born to migrant parents tend to be left behind in education, especially in sciences. Migrant workers are no less dedicated than anyone else in the city, yet policies continue to discriminate against them as they are not “permanent residents”. In China, you have to have a special ID card in order to access many services and job opportunities, effectively relegating migrants to “untouchable” status. They’re forced to work low-paying jobs, live in ghettos called “urban villages”, and their children are prohibited from attending public school.

It breaks my heart to think of the crippling odds stacked against these people, who just want to work and build a better life for themselves and their children. So many migrant children grow up feeling worthless and discarded, the very society that should be protecting and empowering them instead shattering their dreams, condemning them to a hopeless future. Through Collocate, I am working from the ground up, empowering a single student at a time and building a digital movement promoting real change and real hope to people who otherwise don’t have any. Collocate isn’t going to give anyone a bottomless checking account, or automatically grant them equal rights. But it does give them a chance to feel valued, and to see that they have the potential to change their lives through education.

I have been working as a volunteer youth tutor at the Green Rose, a local Shenzhen non-profit organization that aims to support, connect, and educate the left-behind migrant population living in the city.

In March 2021, I tested out an MVP version of Collocate with 36 marginalized children at the Green Rose Center for Youth Development. My APP proved to be popular among the young and curious learners. They were passionate to follow the instructions to conduct experiments and explore sciences using simple materials collected from their surroundings. I conducted an interview with the kids after the session. Their feedback led me to realize that, apart from consistently working on perfecting the APP's performance, I needed to develop extra tutorials to teach young children how to use the APP in the first place. In addition to taking approaches to address this issue, I also hosted a device donation drive to make sure that students could access the APP.

Collocate’s current stage of development is prototyping, as it is in an initial stage of software development wherein various sections are being updated, fixes are occurring, and new functionalities are being added. A small class of users from the local organization (The Green Rose) are consistently engaged in the development of the final product, as they have evaluated and provided feedback for the testing of the prototype.

Collocate is an interactive iOS software that supports, connects, and empowers marginalized children to explore science with zero-to-minimal financial burden. It has been developed through Xcode. Users can learn about various scientific experiments, share their achievements through posting, and connect with other Collocate users to form learning groups.

There are three main interfaces in Collocate, and each is dedicated to one main function. First, there are the interfaces about signing-up and logging-in. Second, users can access a database of experiments that need only the most basic materials to be conducted, from water and paper to even litter off the street. Third, users can upload a picture of their work and post it on the "community" section.

The current population we are serving is 36 marginalized children aged 7-15.

After debugging and approval from the APP Store, iOS users will be able to download from the App Store and use it freely. According to our plan for product development, we target at hitting more than 300 users by the end of 2022.

Our impact goals for 2022 include updating 10 more sections on the database and adding 3 new functionalities before finally launch our APP on the App Store. We plan to introduce our APP to broader communities (10 different cities in China) after it is available for download on the APP Store, and will spare no efforts to reach our target of developing more than 300 users by the end of 2022. We will then outreach to communities outside China. 

Our product development is through collaboration with different NGOs and tech companies. For instance, as part of our promotion strategies, we will partner with Tencent's Youth Science and Technology College to introduce our APP to more underprivileged schools in Guangdong Province.

Along our journey to achieve real impact, we aim at supporting, connecting, and empowering young learners, one at a time.

Indicators we are using to measure the development progress of our product include the number of functionalities we have added and the size of the database of scientific experiments. 

In addition, by counting the number of active users of the APP and the number of communities we have reached to, we are able to measure our solution's social impact.

In alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals of No Poverty and Quality Education, our solution works to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for the otherwise left-behind population. Collocate gives marginalized children a chance to feel valued, and to see that they have the potential to change their lives through education.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, it is challenging for us to visit many communities to promote our APP, which might limit the potential of outreach and development.

Moreover, in order to make our APP more accessible for marginalized children, we still need to acquire more funding to purchase electronic devices and donate them to the left-behind communities.

My team is made up of five high-school girls who share the same identity as "migrant students to Shenzhen". We all developed an interest in science and technology at an early age. Studying science empowered us to fight for our dreams and reach for the stars. However, our childhood experiences made us realize that we are the lucky ones. Growing up in ghettos, or the so-called “urban villages”, we observed many consequences of social and income inequality. Many of our friends could not afford to attend a school with a strong STEM program, and they could not afford the expensive equipments required to explore sciences. Inquisitive, talented, and drive young people are segregated from success and from a bright future. It breaks our hearts to think of the crippling odds stacked against these young people who just want build a better future for themselves. We want to create free, accessible STEM programs for marginalized and low-income communities, empowering them to chase after their dreams and to move up economically. Therefore, we, the designers of Collocate, hold a unique position to deliver the solution.

Each team member's specialization is clear:

Agnes is the team leader who came up with the idea of the “Collocate”. She also took part in tutorial resources collecting and programming. 

Helena and Lucy are programmers who created the APP “Collocate”, including the use of cloud and databases.

Emily and Susie are business planners designed the Logo, and layout of the APP, and marketing and financial strategies.

We are currently partnering with a local non-profit organization called the "Green Rose", which provides us with advice on product development and strategic planning.

In addition, we are also partnering with the government association SZ WCDF (Shenzhen Women and Children's Development Foundation), which supports our marketing and guides us to progress our funding strategy.

We are qualified for this prize because our team is made up of five highly-driven girls aged 15-17 who are passionate about using science and technology to cultivate a better world with more equal opportunities for all. Our product, Collocate, demonstrates our mission and commitment to advance digital equity in our community and achieve greater equality in STEM education.

The HP Girls Save the World Prize will significantly support us along the journey of making science education more quality and accessible to more marginalized children in our community, and across the globe. We will use the fund to develop new APP functionalities, scale up in more regions, and donate devices to the low-income population so that they can have access to the APP.

Growing up in Shenzhen, where migrant workers take up the population's majority, we observed many consequences of social and income inequality: marginalized girls tend to be left-behind in education, especially in science and technology area. Moreover, what eduction resources are available are often closed off to girls and women, effectively shutting out a vast talent pool from accessing the education they need not only to rise out of poverty, but to have a real impact on the world.

Collocate isn’t going to give anyone a bottomless checking account, or automatically grant them equal rights. But Collocate guides our way to work from the ground up, empowering a single girl at a time and building a digital movement promoting real change and real hope to people who otherwise don’t have any.