App Inventing

1. A Presentation for Teachers App Inventing

2. About Me • Studied Computer Science • Completed MA in ICT in Education • Taught abroad and in the UK • Currently Head of ICT, Computing & Business Studies at a grammar school, Wiltshire

3. Why Apps? There are approximately 350,000 apps in iTunes, 65,000 in the Android marketplace http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUcq_E4I-s

4. Why Apps in Schools? • The UK's video games sector is bigger than both the film and music industries with over £2bn in global sales. • With games becoming increasingly complicated to make, the programmers used to make the games are in high demand. • There are concerns about where the talent of the future is going to come from. "The narrowness of how we teach children about computers risks creating a generation of digital illiterates.“ Ian Livingstone, life president of Eidos and government skills champion Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9503255.stm

5. Why should students be interested? Potential to generate revenue Rate of apps being made available each day is growing rapidly. Expand to tablets, TV and beyond!

6. But mostly…

7. Curriculum Links • Can replace Flowol and LOGO • “Sequencing Information”

8. Creators not Consumers • “The goal is to enable people to become creators, not just consumers, in this mobile world” Harold Abelson (MIT), Google App Inventor Project https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/12/technology/12google.html?_r=1

9. Development Environments • No Programming • Drag & Drop (Visual) Programming • Language Specific Coded Programming

10. No Programming Required? • You can create a fully functioning App that can be shared with the world, or just your users… • You can send push notifications to users You can create Forms • Menu based interface • Basic interactions • Easy to use – no programming required • FREE!! BUT need to be over 13 to register! • Similar to appsbar, but a cost involved! • More complicated/corporate feel • Just for iPhones

11. Drag & Drop Programming • Starting with the basics…….from scratch

12. Drag & Drop Programming App Inventor shares many similarities with Scratch Scratch • Freely available for Windows, Linux or Mac, Scratch provides an approachable way to build interactive games and works of art. • The language is similar to Basic… only instead of typing out the “code”, you place bits of the code in place via dragging-and-dropping with the mouse. • The resulting applications are not “stand alone executables” App Inventor • Allows people with very little programming experience to build their own applications for their Android phone. • The language and user interface itself is actually based on Scratch (with a much more “grown up” look and feel). • App Inventor also contains an excellent User Interface Layout tool to design the look and feel of your Android app.

13. Crayons for the Web • “When I first heard about Scratch, I hated it...I didn't like the idea of teaching kids how to program. But this isn't a programming language. It's an environment where people can become creators of content for the internet. It's like crayons for the web.” Seth Raphael, MIT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/12/google_app_inventor_for_android/

14. Coded Programming Environments Xcode (Mac SDK) • Mac Only • Only possible to code in Objective C DragonFire SDK • Windows based • Code in C/C++ • Both complicated (this video illustrates this well http://www.dragonfiresdk.com/video/index.htm)

15. Structure of App Inventor Don’t need to attach your mobile phone – can use the Android Emulator to test your apps.

16. Installation Instructions • Simple really……(??!!) • 5 mins to…. • Ensure Java installed on computer • 10 mins to…. • Download setup software to your PC (87MB) • Up to 30 mins to….. • Obtain and install driver for phone – this is a bit trickier….and not necessary if you want to use the Android emulator • Simple to install onto RM network at school • Instructions are all online http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/learn/setup/index.html

17. Issues Identified • Installation • Need a package to install .exe on each machine • Students need Google accounts • Running • Interface can be awkward and unintuitive • Emulator can be slow to load, and for apps to run

18. App Inventor Interface Any components you add on the screen are listed here. This is the design screen. You can drag and drop the items from here onto the screen. The properties of each component can be set or changed here.

19. The Blocks Editor Once the interface is designed, you can add the code by opening the blocks editor. • This is a Java pop-up window. • The building blocks are similar to those in Scratch.

20. Built In Functions The built in blocks are in the categories shown. The components that you place on the screen design can all be manipulated from the “My Blocks” list.

21. App Inventor in Action Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ADwPLSFeY8&feature=player_embedded

22. The Emulator • Behaves like an Android phone. • Can fully navigate the interface.

23. Tutorials • Good quality tutorials are available on the App Developer website: http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/learn/tutorials/index.html

24. Code for MoleMash Development time: 1 hour Difficulty: Simple if you understand variables, assignments and objects.

25. Pro’s and Con’s(through the eyes of very discerning A-Level Computing Students) OVERALL: “Good but needs work. Definitely a beta. But do enjoy the visual element of programming using it. Great for learning to program.”

26. My Plans for Android • Initially a 6 week scheme of work in summer term (target audience Year 10) • Students design mobile phone app • Students set price of app and identify target market (enterprise) • Students start to develop basic functionality • Will lead to App development club for those who wish to develop their skills further • Prizes awarded to best ideas

27. Existing Teaching Model By sharing and discussing their experiences, and those of the people they know, the teams identify a whole range of areas where every-day, real-life problems occur for further exploration. Using Google App Inventor students will work to create the first prototype app to be deployed onto Android Market. They will then work to test and refine their design and get real-life testing feedback from the public. Students investigate the various opportunities by discussing with their peers, and looking at similar products in app stores. By the end of this stage students will have much clearer, more defined knowledge of who and where (physically) their users are. Once solution design is complete, students focus on perfecting their product design, testing and improving the feature sets and user interactions in dialogue with potential users. This is done through paper wireframes as well as interactive tools to allow for click through animations. Students learn about how best to plan and organise the development of their application, considering for marketing and distribution.

28. My Project Model Following this model, if working independently students are able to achieve level 7/8 “Pupils independently select appropriate information sources and ICT tools for specific tasks, taking into account ease of use and suitability. They design and implement systems for others to use. “

29. Scheme of Work • 6 weeks (approx 10 hours)

30. Examples of Student Work • Squish! • DinoDash • Keen2Clean • Teaching Tots • Ducky Day Care

31. What next? • Students who want to develop full app to join App Developer club • 1 hour a week • Supported by 6th form computing students • Launch primary outreach programme for app design in Scratch • (later Mobile Scratch project http://llk.media.mit.edu/projects.php?id=1974 )

32. Get in touch • http://creativityincomputing.wordpress.com • All material from the presentation today can be found at this site from the end of today