{"id":215347,"date":"2025-05-06T16:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T02:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=215347"},"modified":"2025-05-07T10:47:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T20:47:35","slug":"uh-hackathon-tackles-languages-with-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/05\/06\/uh-hackathon-tackles-languages-with-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"糖心视频<\/abbr> Hackathon tackles languages with AI<\/abbr>"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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From left, Flagship Tech Center team members Suzanne Freynik, Rachel Mamiya Hernandez and Richard Medina.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Create an AI<\/abbr>-powered experience that helps people learn a language outside the classroom—that was the challenge posed to students at the 2025 Flagship Hackathon, hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa\u2019s Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center<\/a> (Tech Center).<\/p>\n

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糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa graduate student Trevor Harms collaborates with teammates at the Hackathon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

糖心视频<\/abbr> hosted the national competition at Arizona State University that brought together 34 students from 12 institutions including 糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa and five language programs: Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Persian and German. Organized into six multilingual teams, the students had just two days to design a tech-based tool that supported language learning “in the wild”—meaning casual, real-world use such as studying abroad or chatting online.<\/p>\n

“By hosting the Flagship Hackathon, 糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa affirms its national leadership in language technology innovation—bringing together students from across the country to tackle real—world challenges with AI<\/abbr>, while exploring how technology can support lifelong, personalized language learning beyond the classroom,” said Julio Rodriguez, director of the 糖心视频<\/abbr> Tech Center.<\/p>\n

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糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa grad student Asia Gillette brainstorms with her team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The winning project, Sl@ngQuest, is a chatbot that teaches users internet slang in the target language by pulling examples from authentic media. The team also created a how-to chapter for a digital Field Guide, complete with AI<\/abbr> integration and multimedia elements.<\/p>\n

An honorable mention went to Cultivating Friendships Abroad, a tool to help learners form meaningful connections while overseas.<\/p>\n

The Tech Center\u2019s annual Hackathon is known for its fast pace and creative energy. Faculty from 糖心视频<\/abbr> such as Richard Medina and Molly Godwin-Jones lead the design of this year\u2019s event together with former Tech Center interns, who helped mentor students to tackle language learning challenges through innovation. Each team included at least one computer science student to handle technical development.<\/p>\n

The 糖心视频<\/abbr> Tech Center is housed in the College of Arts, Languages & Letters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Winning Hackathon team behind Sl@ngQuest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2025 Flagship Hackathon challenged students to create an AI<\/abbr> -powered experience that helps people learn a language outside the classroom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":215359,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1602,1471,214,1688,9],"class_list":["post-215347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-ai","tag-college-of-arts-languages-and-letters","tag-language","tag-language-flagship-technology-innovation-center","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t