IB Learner Profile: COVID-19 App

This week, SGS IB Coordinator Elizabeth Tender highlights a very relevant project from an IB student in Ottawa, Canada.  This exemplifies a dynamic CAS project!

 

In this IB Blog Article, we learn that Diploma Programme (DP) student Ryan Rodrigs used his entrepreneurial and technological skills to help people change their behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic and save lives.  The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to change the ways we behave, from social distancing to wearing a mask.  When Canada went into lockdown in April, Ryan, a student at Colonel By Secondary School in Ottawa, Canada, came up with an idea for developing an app (Yunal COVID-19) to help people stay safe and follow new guidelines.  

 

When discussing his app, Ryan said: “Business, entrepreneurship and innovation are all difficult paths that require many skills — many of which are included in the IB Learner Profile.  There is an immense amount of planning and development needed to take it from an idea on a page to a real tangible product that people can use daily.

• He "demonstrated inquiry by researching and understanding more about the virus and the pandemic as a whole," and when he "sought out answers to develop a better understanding of not only the world around me, but also ways to potentially help and aid those around me." 

• He says, "being knowledgeable was shown when I was furthering my understanding in fields of technology, software, programming, medicine, research and also in the field of vaccines and other viruses".

• He also said he, "had to be a thinker and communicator to effectively innovate and come up with creative solutions to solve problems."

• And, he states, he "had to be open-minded and show care (caring) and compassion for team members and users coping with the pandemic."

• Finally, he says, "starting anything new, especially a business is a huge risk. I took effective risks (risk-taker) that were calculated and well balanced to take leaps forward."

 

Ryan hopes that this app and this company can continue to make a difference and save lives.  So far, Ryan’s COVID-19 app has had 75,000 downloads on Android and nearly 1,000 downloads on iOS.  His company has also started distributing at-home testing kits that give accurate COVID-19 results in just minutes.