What initially started as a challenge is now a full-fledged app that provides wellbeing resources, which will soon launch on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store!
Our winner for Student Wellbeing Award 2023 proved its mettle again, this time with a wellbeing app that’s developed by learners themselves.
The app, NexWell, is the brainchild of five Nexus International School (Singapore) learners who are passionate about computer science, and the school’s Learning Area Leader of Computer Science. It’s designed to provide users with wellbeing resources anywhere and at any time.
The creation of NexWell
It all started with a challenge that was brought up by Nexus’ school counsellor team. The team asked the school community for ideas on how to support its learners holistically at all times. The idea of creating a wellbeing app came about after their discussion with the school’s Learning Area Leader, Ms. Hemangi, who then put together a team of five interested learners to start on the project.
All five learners – Kazybek, Emmanuel, Keoni, Alec, and Khoi – were excited to start this project as it was a chance to contribute to their community. It’s also the first time they’ve undertaken a group project as extensive as this, which involved creating a technological solution to a real-world problem. Adding to that, it’s a project that the learners undertook out of personal interest, and one that that extends beyond the classroom and curriculum.
There were many aspects of developing NexWell that were challenging for the learners who are all beginners in app development. For Emmanuel, the toughest part was using the chosen framework for the app. As for his teammate, Keoni, it was “the collaborative and iterative process” that was new for him.
Nevertheless, project NexWell was a valuable learning experience for them all. On the technical side, learners picked up hard skills in cross-platform development, experienced user-centred design, and applied UI/UX principles. On the other hand, they picked up soft skills like collaboration and project management, all of which are essential to future-proof themselves.
The team continues to fine-tune NexWell before launching it to the public
The development of the NexWell app involved multiple rounds of user testing, which the team has conducted to further refine the app. After which, the learners and Ms. Hemangi presented their work to key personnel in the school.
During the course of the journey, the five learners didn’t shy away from making key decisions, troubleshooting, and asking questions when needed. Nexus’ counsellors and educators were also there to provide guidance and support during the creation of the app.
Last but not least, the team has plans to launch NexWell in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
An exciting learning journey from start to finish
The five Nexus learners have nothing but fond memories of their app development journey. Kazybek is happy that he and his peers took the lead in creating NexWell. Another teammate, Alec, shares this sentiment, who’s excited for the launch and hopes that NexWell will be useful for his schoolmates. Similarly, Khoi shared that he’s happy to have picked up coding while creating something that can help his community.
This post is in partnership with Nexus International School (Singapore).