Low Code-Fest aims to engage secondary school teachers and students with digital tools and resources by supporting them to produce a creative project that uses the cultural heritage data made available through Europeana.eu. This whole 'hackathon' is Low Code, meaning that no programming skills are needed, only the willingness to learn and explore using new digital tools. The Fest is an initiative from the Europeana Foundation and Europeana Education Community.
With Low-Code Fest 2024 currently open for registration, we take a look back at the projects that won prizes in last year’s edition. Among the winning projects were those from Gijón's Colegio Corazón de María, La Coruna's Science Club of the David Buján School and Youth Association XentD100cia, and Jaén's Salesian School Santo Domingo Savio. Let's delve into the remarkable endeavours of these teams.
Team 1: Colegio Corazón de María, Gijón
Led by teachers Rafael and Mariano and including four students, the team from Gijon developed ‘EuroBack,’ for Low-Code Fest, an interactive app designed to engage users with cultural heritage. Using the tool AppInventor, they crafted an intuitive platform which allows users to explore cultural artefacts that are related to a specific date in history. The app also allows people to upload their images and descriptions. Rafael emphasised how the simplicity and versatility of AppInventor enabled seamless integration with the Europeana Search API.
Team 2: Science Club of the David Buján School and Youth Association XentD100cia, La Coruna
Under the guidance of teachers Jose Viñas Dieguez and Patricia Barciela Durán, 15 students embarked on the ’Bringing Digital to Life’ project as part of Low-Code Fest. Their virtual exhibition for the Domus Science Museum in La Coruna showcased the world of camelids, aligning with the United Nation’s International Year of Camelids in 2024. By employing the Spatial.io tool and the Europeana API suite, they created an immersive digital museum, bridging the gap between students and cultural institutions.
Jose says, ’The students were very enthusiastic about participating in this Europe-wide project that involves working with digital tools that are new to them, such as the integration of APIs or the creation of virtual spaces. Getting hands-on with all of these digital tools is very appealing to them!’
Team 3: Salesian School Santo Domingo Savio, Jaén
With five teachers and eight students, the team from Jaén embarked on the ambitious project ‘Úbeda as a World Heritage City by UNESCO.’ Combining web development tools with Europeana's resources, they crafted a comprehensive website showcasing Úbeda's rich history and architecture. Their project of putting together comprehensive resources about Ubéda had been going on for several years already. During the Low-Code Fest, the team put together all of the information they gathered, crafting the HTML websites themselves. They also used Tinkercad to create 3D models out of landmarks in Ubéda, produced audio podcasts describing the heritage and history of Ubéda monuments, and Spatial.io for a virtual museum and interactive games to provide different types of engagement.
Teacher José Maria says, ‘Participating in Low Code Fest was an incredibly enriching experience. I loved the opportunity to work with my students and fellow teachers to create something challenging, novel and exciting. It was great to see how we all worked together to overcome challenges and create something that matters. We love being able to share our work!’
Get involved in Low-Code Fest 2024
If you have been inspired by the projects created in 2023, or are an educator who wants to engage your students or peers with online data and digital cultural heritage, don’t miss your chance to register for Low-Code Fest 2024! The first session takes place on 22 March - discover all the details and register now!