SANDPiT
SANDPiT, the Schools ApplicatioN Development ProjecT is a novel intergenerational project whereby 40 school students and 12 older adults worked together over 9 months to design and prototype technology applications for mobile devices.
SANDPiT, the Schools ApplicatioN Development ProjecT is a novel intergenerational project whereby 40 school students and 12 older adults worked together over 9 months to design and prototype technology applications for mobile devices.
This novel intergenerational project takes students from four Co. Louth Schools – St. Oliver’s Community College Drogheda, O’Fiaich Dundalk, Scoil Uí Mhuirí Dunleer and Bush Post Primary Cooley – and 12 older adults worked together over 9 months to design and prototype technology applications for mobile devices. The main remit of the project was to design applications that are of benefit to younger and older generations alike, focusing on the similarities between generations rather than the differences. The project was a collaboration between CASALA and County Louth VEC.
The SANDPiT project began in October 2012 and ran until May 2013. There were 9 teams, each consisting of 4-5 school students and at least 1 older adult. There were a total of 8 half-day workshops held, culminating with an exhibition at the end of the project. Each workshop focused on a particular part of the design process for applications, including idea generation and brainstorming, user requirements gathering, scenario and persona creation, application information architecture, interface design and application prototyping. Throughout the project, participants were reminded of the intergenerational goal and the importance of universal design, through short tutorials presented at workshops by the organising researchers.
Project ideas covered emotional wellbeing, local information for towns, including services and area safety reports, intergenerational games and quizzes, a driving education app and game to help younger people with driving theory and to provide older adults with a‘refresher’ course on driving and rules of the road, and reminder systems. For each team, outcomes included a poster, a website (made in Google Sites or Weebly) and a prototype app developed in MIT App Inventor1, all of which were presented at the final exhibition. Students from one of the participating schools also decided to make a YouTube video discussing their experiences of the project.