  The COVID-19 pandemic has birthed a wealth of information through many
publicly accessible sources, such as news outlets and social media. However,
gathering and understanding the content can be difficult due to inaccuracies or
inconsistencies between the different sources. To alleviate this challenge in
Australia, a team of 48 student volunteers developed an open-source COVID-19
information dashboard to provide accurate, reliable, and real-time COVID-19
information for Australians. The students developed this software while working
under legislative restrictions that required social isolation. The goal of this
study is to characterize the experiences of the students throughout the
project. We conducted an online survey completed by 39 of the volunteering
students contributing to the COVID-19 dashboard project. Our results indicate
that playing a positive role in the COVID-19 crisis and learning new skills and
technologies were the most cited motivating factors for the students to
participate in the project. While working on the project, some students
struggled to maintain a work-life balance due to working from home. However,
the students generally did not express strong sentiment towards general project
challenges. The students expressed more strongly that data collection was a
significant challenge as it was difficult to collect reliable, accurate, and
up-to-date data from various government sources. The students have been able to
mitigate these challenges by establishing a systematic data collection process
in the team, leveraging frequent and clear communication through text, and
appreciating and encouraging each other's efforts. By participating in the
project, the students boosted their technical (e.g., front-end development) and
non-technical (e.g., task prioritization) skills. Our study discusses several
implications for students, educators, and policymakers.
