On my fourth day, all of the Cary Academy students participating came together to learn about the GatherIQ app created by SAS, which incorporates both the humanitarian qualities of SAS and all of the data available to them. We got to test out the program on laptops and our phones, and filled out surveys giving feedback and suggestions. GatherIQ is a platform with information and data related to world issues, and the program encourages users to share their perspectives and thoughts on the data via social media, specifically Twitter, which is connected within the program. Below are some screenshots of one example of an article on the GatherIQ app:
After tinkering with the program in small groups and submitting our feedback, we all came together to brainstorm new possible ideas for the app. The target audience for the app is essentially anyone, but mostly is aimed towards middle schoolers and high schoolers as well as young adults. We were able to share our perspective on what tactics and features will resonate with young people. In small groups again, we used a series of guiding questions to gather ideas for GatherIQ, and then presented those to our hosts, who were very open to ideas and interested to hear what we had to say. Overall, this day was very interesting, and I can’t wait to see the next model of the GatherIQ app and how our feedback and ideas may have actually influenced its development!
And we all got to take home some fun GatherIQ merchandise, pictured above 🙂