There was a time when the most difficult thing for me in class to accomplish was getting students to buy in and figure out how to make them think. Students are inundated with items for ease and comfort. There are at the age if it is not apparent, they tend to stray away from things that make them think. This was the situation in class getting students to go beyond their comfort zone to work together and building an app. At the end of semester, students were going to participate in App showcase.
The buy-in
Students were asked to think about three apps they use the most. After they identified the app of choice, students were put into groups based upon what category their apps would be classified as. Students had to come the pros and cons of their app choices and share out to classmates. Students also had to explain how their plan in resolving those cons to make them pros for their users. The students are then asked to follow the genology of how the app has progressed from one app to the next. The challenge becomes how to create an app that is needed.
Developing the App
Students will partner in groups of 4-5 and discuss an issue within the community that is needed within the district or area within the school zone. This gives students an opportunity to have students think about what is happening and what is important to their interests. Students are given criteria identifying who will benefit from the app, is the app user-friendly, and how they will work together to build the app. Students will be able to follow App Manual as a guide for students to follow.
PowerPoint vs Keynote
Students are more familiar with PowerPoint than they are with Keynote until we offer up the similarities. What I like to do is have students work in PowerPoint where they are comfortable as their beta app. This is how I help them gain understanding of how they transition from links to build the app and show the correlation to transition from keynote. Students continue to build their app using keynote and growing their abilities. Once students begin learning how to create their apps, it becomes an outstanding process to watch them grow.
Keeping the Code 