Teenage girls from Elstree UTC, Borehamwood launch their award winning app, booknotes.

Two students from Elstree University Technical College in Borehamwood, Savanna and Kirsty, whose entry was selected from hundreds of applications, were announced as winners in the national Apps for Good Awards 2017. On Tuesday 13th March they will be celebrating the launch of their app, ‘booknotes’, onto the market at the Thomson Reuters offices in Canary Wharf, London.

The girls encountered the problem their app addresses while studying for their GCSE English Literature exam in 2017. They found it difficult to find effective ways to revise and realised how much time could be saved if they could keep track of all their text annotations and notes digitally. This inspired them to create booknotes, as part of the Apps for Good course, an app that lets you create your own library of quotes and then helps you organise your revision and research. It enables you to work on the on the go by scanning text and adding annotations, which are then stored on your phone or tablet.

The girls said about their involvement in the project:

“Working with the Apps for Good team and our app producers, Plant Pot ltd has been an amazing experience. We’re so glad to have had the opportunity to develop our idea into a real app that can benefit other people. We have learnt about all the different stages, elements and processes that need to be thought about when creating a new digital product. Details such as having a loading animation and what the terms and conditions need to be. Next we would like to continue to build on booknotes’ features and make this way of learning accessible to people in a wide range of subjects.”

Winning the ‘Information’ Category powered by Thomson Reuters at the Apps for Good Awards, the app development and final launch concludes the girls’ involvement with the Apps for Good course. The course, which is mapped to national curriculum standards, is provided free of charge to teachers, to transform the way technology is taught in schools and aims to empower students from all backgrounds to seize the opportunities of our digital age by helping them to create tech products to solve problems they care about.

Heather Picov Apps for Good UK Managing Director said: “Apps for Good aims to empower students from all backgrounds to seize the opportunities of our digital age and create tech products that solve the problems they are truly passionate about. The booknotes team should be proud of their accomplishments. They completely owned every stage of the process from the initial idea to full development through the Apps for Good course and we’ve really enjoyed working with them.

This would have not been possible without our long-term partnership with Thomson Reuters, who supported the Information Category at the Apps for Good Awards.”

Rachel Moseley, Head of Strategy & Reporting, Corporate Responsibility & Inclusion, Thomson Reuters commented: “We’re thrilled to see the booknotes app hit the market and to celebrate its launch with Kirsty and Savanna. Thomson Reuters is committed to diversity in technology and we’ve been privileged to see the booknotes app evolve from an idea to a technology solution thanks to the innovation and vision of this talented team.”

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters has been a strategic partner of Apps for Good since 2011 and has been instrumental in helping Apps for Good to grow their reach and deepen their impact. Thomson Reuters has directly supported the delivery of Apps for Good within over 100 schools across the UK and globally, impacting an estimated 4,500 young people as well as enabling the founding and piloting of the Fellowship Community. Thomson Reuters has been a long-term supporter of the Apps for Good Awards and has now enabled six student teams to realise their ambition of launching their own digital product onto the market. Thomson Reuters employees are dedicated mentors for Apps for Good students and have donated their time and expertise to guide young people throughout the course and into the Fellowship. For more information about Corporate Responsibility, Sustainability and Inclusion at Thomson Reuters click here.

Thomson Reuters is the world’s leading source of news and information for professional markets. Our customers rely on us to deliver the intelligence, technology and expertise they need to find trusted answers. The business has operated in more than 100 countries for more than 100 years. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges (symbol: TRI). For more information, visit www.thomsonreuters.com.

About Apps for Good

Apps for Good is an education technology charity, with a mission to unlock the confidence and talent of young people to help them thrive in a tech-driven future.

They provide free online CPD to upskill computing teachers to ensure they feel confident delivering their programmes (App Development or Internet of Things course) to their students. Students are then challenged to come up with any problem or issue they are passionate about within their communities and learn how to solve it by building a digital product.

Through the Apps for Good programme students learn not just vital technical skill but also the enterprise and employability skills to design, market, launch and pitch their products solving real-world problems.

Full access to the Apps for Good Press Kit here

For further information please contact:

Natalie Moore: natalie.moore@appsforgood.org

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8150 6908

Website: www.appsforgood.org


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About Apps for Good

Apps for Good is an education technology charity, with a mission to unlock the confidence and talent of young people to help them thrive in a tech-driven future. They provide free online CPD to upskill computing teachers to ensure they feel confident delivering their programmes (App Development or Internet of Things course) to their students. Students are then challenged to come up with any problem or issue they are passionate about within their communities and learn how to solve it by building a digital product. Through the Apps for Good programme students learn not just vital technical skill but also the enterprise and employability skills to design, market, launch and pitch their products solving real-world problems.