Our project is aimed at extending the reach of our open-source platform to 10000 children and educators in underserved settings in India with the ultimate aim of expanding access to STEAM education.

Rudrani Ghosh

Funding Area: Capacity building / Construcción de capacidad

Problem Statement: STEAM education goes beyond emphasizing only hard scientific skills and instead encourages learners to utilize both their hard and soft skills in problem-solving. It promises a more holistic learning experience and prepares students to thrive in a dynamic and interconnected 21st century world. However, like everything else in life, systemic inequity makes it so that more than 146 million children enrolled in schools in rural India lack creative education opportunities due to limited resources. At Unstructured Studio, an educational non-profit registered in Canada and India, we work towards making STEAM education and building 21st-century skills accessible by using our tools and resources to engage children in joyful learning experiences. Our primary project is ZubHub, a free and open-source documentation & collaboration platform for activity-based learning– on ZubHub, children, and educators can get inspired by a collection of activity ideas and projects, learn how to build with the materials and tools that they already have access to, and share their creations with others. Some of the primary features are creator portfolios, community-curated projects, discussion-based collaboration, and workshops. This proposal is about expanding the reach of ZubHub to 10000 children & educators in under-resourced settings in India. Ultimately, our goal is to lower the cost of STEAM learning experiences and make them accessible to all, irrespective of economic and social differences.

Proposed Activities: This proposal aims to extend the outreach of ZubHub to benefit 10,000 children and educators in under-resourced settings across India. Our strategy to achieve this includes: Conducting workshops with children and organizing capacity-building training sessions for educators in collaboration with local partners. This approach not only allows us to engage with the users of our platform but also enables continuous improvement through iterative feedback. Here is an example of one such workshop held in Patna, Bihar with children and youth from oppressed castes: https://unstructured.studio/blog/back-with-a-bang-first-workshop-of-the-year-with-csei-students-in-patna/They spent two days learning how to create a circuit out of scrap materials and then presented their projects and uploaded videos on ZubHub. Expanding the range of activity content available on ZubHub and getting it translated into various local languages. Our activities are designed for tinkerability. They are open-ended, have room for inquiry and exploration, allow the use of various materials, focus on the process more than the product, and provide opportunities for collaboration. See for reference our repository of existing activities: https://kriti.unstructured.studio/. To accomplish this, we will collaborate with local artists, inventors, and educators for content development. Sidenote: The grant money will not be allocated for the software development of ZubHub. Instead, we will rely on in-kind donations, participate in the Software Freedom Conservancy's FOSS mentorship program Outreachy (which we are already involved in), and utilize our in-house resources. Both our founders have a background in software engineering, making this approach feasible and sustainable. The timeline for this is December 1st, 2023 to December 1st, 2025. Our focus will be on two aspects- Program management & training under which we will be using $20,000 as a two-year cost for the salary of a full-time employee supervising on-ground program activities, including capacity building and content development Activity development wherein we will be creating 25 new STEAM-based activities for $5000 ($200 per activity). This money will go towards content development, translation, demo video production etc.

Openness: All our tools, resources and activities have always been and will always be open and free to use. Open Access: The activities, content, and resources developed as part of the project will be accessible to all users, including educators and children in under-resourced settings. In addition, the activities will be adapted into various local languages to cater to the diverse needs and contexts of our extensive target audience. Open Source: The software platform, ZubHub is open-source, allowing anyone to view, modify, and contribute to the codebase. This openness fosters a collaborative environment where developers and contributors can work together to improve the platform and add new features. Open Collaboration: The project emphasizes collaboration with local partners, artists, inventors, and educators. This open collaboration enables incorporating diverse perspectives, cultural sensitivities, and local expertise, making the learning experiences more relevant and engaging for the target audience. Learn more here about ways in which volunteers can contribute to our projects: https://unstructured.studio/volunteer/ Open Communication: The project will aim to share insights and outcomes openly, contributing to the broader educational community. We frequently share about the project's successes and opportunities for our small Unstructured Studio community via blog posts & our social media channels. See a record of work done so far: https://unstructured.studio/blog/

Challenges: There will no doubt be various challenges in executing this project. While we have existing partners we plan to approach for this initiative, establishing new partnerships will be necessary. Building and sustaining these on-ground collaborations will be particularly demanding but essential for the project's success. Recruiting, building relationships, finalizing agreements, and executing the project will require active participation from both parties. Effective communication and relationship-building efforts will be key in establishing trust and commitment with them. Additionally, we anticipate some other smaller challenges: Logistical Challenges: Coordinating and managing on-ground activities, workshops, and training sessions in diverse locations will require careful attention to travel arrangements, resource allocation, and scheduling. Resource Constraints: Under-resourced settings might limit financial resources, infrastructure, and technology access, potentially affecting the project's implementation and scalability. Cultural and Language Adaptation: The project's success hinges on adapting and localizing content effectively to suit the distinct cultures and languages of our target audience, ensuring the material remains relevant and impactful. By proactively acknowledging and addressing these challenges, we aim to ensure a successful and impactful project implementation, ultimately benefiting the children and educators in these settings.

Neglectedness: As a self-funded nonprofit in our initial years, we faced the challenge of not having a proven track record of impact and success, which made it challenging to attract potential funders and demonstrate the organization's effectiveness and long-term viability. We applied to approximately 20 grant programs during this period to establish our on-ground presence and foster local partnerships. Out of these 20 applications, we were fortunate to secure funding from two grant programs, each providing approximately $10,000 in financial support: In 2022, we received funding from Hollie's Hub for Good through Digital Ocean. With this grant, we were able to recruit our first learning program manager in India. In 2023, we obtained funding from the Ernest Solvay through King Baudouin Foundation. These funds will be utilized to organize educational workshops and training sessions for children in India. These funds will expire by April 2024. As a side note, during the initial stages, both founders personally covered the costs for software development, enabling the creation of the first version of our platform. Presently, we receive in-kind donations through Software Freedom Conservancy’s Outreachy, which allows us to recruit interns via their mentoring program to contribute to the improvement and enhancement of ZubHub.

Success: We plan to measure the success of the proposed work through various key indicators to demonstrate the impact on the target audience and the achievement of project goals: Increased Participation: The number of children and educators actively engaging with ZubHub's activity-based learning experiences would indicate the platform's success in reaching and captivating the target audience. Platform Usage Analytics: Analyzing platform usage data, such as the number of activities created and completed, time spent on the platform, and return users, comments per project, would provide insights into user engagement and interest. Improved Learning Outcomes: Assessing the academic performance and STEAM-related skills of participating children over time would reveal whether ZubHub's approach effectively enhances their learning outcomes. We will be relying on creativity assessment frameworks from LEGO Foundation for this measurement. Educator Capacity Building: Tracking the progress and feedback from educators who undergo capacity-building training would help gauge the program's effectiveness in equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge. User Feedback and Satisfaction: Regular surveys and feedback from children, educators, and local partners would provide insights into their satisfaction with ZubHub and its impact on their educational experiences.

Total Budget: $25000

Affiliations: Unstructured Studio

LMIE Carveout: Our organization, Unstructured Studio, is founded by two brilliant and passionate people, Srishti Sethi, whose work at MIT Media Lab started the formation of the organization, and Suchakra Sharma. Both of them currently reside and work in the USA and Canada, respectively, but their passion is in working with the underserved in their home country, India. Our third permanent member is Rudrani Ghosh, our Learning Program Manager, who is currently located in India, and leads our on-ground operations. Our user base is also entirely located in India and consists of children from underserved settings and educators dedicated to serving them.

Team Skills: Our founders, Srishti Sethi and Suchakra Sharma, were born and brought up in India. Growing up, they both struggled to find ways to express themselves and discover their passions and opportunities which fueled their interest in wanting to help children in underserved settings- similar to their own- learn in new and creative ways. They both have a background in software engineering, and have developed ZubHub on their own in its initial days. Our third member, Rudrani Ghosh, is located in India and is in-charge of leading our on-ground operations and has over four years of experience in working for education of the underprivileged communities. We have formed multiple stable partnerships with organizations and educators throughout the years with whom we have conducted workshops and designed activities. We think that our combined knowledge of software, our passion and our deep understanding of the on-ground context will be key in the success of this project.

Submission Number: 139