App Design for Beginners

Purpose & objective

App Design is a growing field, employing students who are innovative designers and computational thinkers alike. And as mobile devices become more and more pervasive, the number of these jobs will only continue to grow. In this session, participants will have the opportunity to learn about this critical topic from a powerhouse app design duo: a well-known app developer and the lead author of Edhesive’s App Design curricula. Participants will get a crash course in the fundamental app design principles students need to know and into the basics of App Inventor. With over 8 million users, the free MIT App Inventor is an accessible and popular app design program. Using a visual programming environment with block-based code, App Inventor grants both new and experienced coders the ability to design mobile apps. Participants will learn enough to create their first apps during the session, then extend learning to add features and interactivity. In the process, they’ll discover entry points and applications for engaging app design lessons in their own classroom.

Outline

1. Introduction to app design and MIT App Inventor, focusing on its importance to progressive computer science education and encouraging underrepresented students to consider computer science courses, majors, and careers (15 minutes). 2. App Design Walkthroughs , including a dual focus with coding/design elements and with app and game design concepts such as user interface, user experience, and game theory. Participants will make simple productivity and game-based apps (60 minutes). 3. Resources for further learning and classroom implementation (15 minutes).

Supporting research

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By Aman Yadav, Chris Stephenson, Hai Hong - https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2017/4/215031-computational-thinking-for-teacher-education/fulltext; How to Teach Computational Thinking by Stephen Wolfram - http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2016/09/how-to-teach-computational-thinking/ Logue, C. (2014). Design School 2.0:
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