App Design 101
Time 7 hrs

Difficulty Intermediate
Prerequisites Programming 101
Departments Human Technologies
Authors Ross Parker
Groupings Individual
Pairs
Minimum Year Group None

Blurb

Want to build a mobile app? This unit builds on the previous learning encountered in Programming 101 and Web Design 101, and should result in a working Android app which you can run on your phone.

License

This work is shared under the following license: Creative Commons BY-SA-NC

Outline

The Pitch
Why should I bother learning this?
  • Want to make your phone do exactly what you want?
  • Learn how to make a mobile app, and change the way people use their phones.
  • Learn with MIT's App Inventor, and later graduate to XCode for iOS or ADK for Android.
Resources
What is needed to run this unit?
  • Laptop
  • Internet access
  • Android phone or emulation
  • Thunkable
Interdisciplinary Links
Do not try and force this. What areas of other subjects might this reflect and/discuss language. For IB, links with ToK.
Teacher Reflection
What was successful? What needs changing? Alternative Assessments and Lesson Ideas? What other Differentiation Ideas/Plans could be used?
  • This is a new project for 2015.
Credits
Any CC attribution, thanks, credit, etc.
  • App Design thumbnail by freepik on freepik under Freepik License.
  • App Inventor icon coopyright MIT, used under assumed fair use for education.

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5 mins
Make Your Phone Do Your Bidding
The Pitch

  • Want to make your phone do exactly what you want?
  • Learn how to make a mobile app, and change the way people use their phones.
  • Learn with Thunkable, and later graduate to XCode for iOS or ADK for Android.

25 mins
Getting Started
Hands On
  • Thunkable is a great way to start learning how to make apps for iOS and Android
  • It is easier to use than Apple's XCode for iOS or Google's ADK for Android, yet it makes real apps that can run on your phone.
40 mins
App Design
Thinking & Planning
  • Spend some time thinking about the kind of app you want to make, looking online for ideas.
  • Try to pick something that is simple to start, but which you can build up as you go.
280 mins
App Building
Hands On
  • Once you have an idea, start playing around in Thunkable to see how you can make your idea work.
  • If your idea does not work, try and come up with a new idea.
  • Once you have an idea that works, build a simple version.
  • Keep improving your work until you have a version that you are happy with.
App Store
  • Although Thunkable enables publishing your app to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, as a student working on a lesson in school, we would ask that students not publish their apps.
  • Publishing requires a developer account, which is not free. Apps published in an online store are also available publicly to anyone else to use, and this is much more exposure than we'd like to see for your initial apps.
  • You can still share your app via email using Thunkable's download options.
  • Becoming an app developer takes time and practice. If you're interested in continuing to develop your app skills and eventually publish a real app in the app store, let us know and we're happy to help you learn more about the process to become an app developer.
70 mins
Peer Review
Evidence
  • Once your app is ready, shoot a short video of one of your peers using the app for the first time. Try to capture their reaction, and ask them to comment on how the app works, looks and feels.
  • Add a title, CC license and credits to your video, and then submit it as evidence, along with the app itself.
Records 1 to 1 of 1
Unit Students

App Inventor icon coopyright MIT, used under assumed fair use for education.
Charlie
Shared on 02/03/2015
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