Mentorship App Makes Top 5 in OpenIDEO Higher Ed Challenge

Higher Education

Mentorship App Makes Top 5 in OpenIDEO Higher Ed Challenge

Mar 10, 2017

“BUMBLE FOR MENTORSHIP?”: What if every student had their own board of directors to help guide them through education, career planning and overall college success? That’s the idea behind MyBoard, a project that has made it’s way into the top five ideas in OpenIDEO’s latest higher education challenge. The mission, which originally gathered 288 ideas, called for better ways to prepare learners for the changing demands of the economy and employment. MyBoard’s idea was simple: help students navigate their education and life choices by pairing them up with an expert for a smoother transition through and after college.

MyBoard’s MentorMe app and desktop widget works by searching LinkedIn and college mentor databases for potential student matches. The pairs are made based off their social media profile similarities between students and mentors. Like dating apps such as Tinder or Bumble, the matches can then message one another to see if it’s a good fit. That matching process “could be expanded to include a paid/unpaid section for additional professional coaching,” the finalist’s webpage reads. Other future plans for MyBoard include integrating within existing platforms like LinkedIn, Angellist or Hired.com.

Four other top ideas chosen for the challenge include Sidekick Education, MAPP (My Action Plan with Purpose), PelotonU and Anyone's Learning Experience (ALEX).

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