No Code, No Problem: HKUST Students Build AI Language Learning Tools at Micro-Hackathon 2026
Building on the CLE’s ongoing work in AI in language education, the three-hour event offered students a hands-on opportunity to explore how natural-language prompts can be used to design interactive webpages or tools that support language learning.
The event began with a masterclass covering no-code AI app building, essential design and user-experience principles, and fundamental theories of learning and cognition. This was followed by a one-hour design sprint, in which students formed teams to conceptualize and design tools addressing common language learning challenges. The event closed with team pitches, in which participants presented their concepts, mock-ups and working prototypes before an audience vote. The winning pitch went to Speak Between the Lines, a vocabulary application for learners of Chinese as a second language that illustrates differences between written and spoken Chinese across everyday communicative contexts, helping learners choose language appropriate to the setting.
Students described the experience as intense yet thrilling, valuing the chance to work directly with cutting-edge AI tools. Beyond testing new technology, they reflected critically on what makes a language learning tool genuinely effective — in particular, how tools can encourage deep learning rather than quick results.
Designed as a taster of an increasingly popular event format, the Micro-Hackathon offered a low-stakes introduction to the hackathon structure while fostering connections among peers with shared interests. Crucially, its no-code approach made the event accessible to students with no programming experience, demonstrating that building language learning tools is now within reach of any interested learner. Its success paves the way for more language and communication-based hackathons in the future, and reflects the CLE's commitment to experiential engagement- the learning by doing and collaborating in the AI era.
