iPad App Creation in School

Creating is “Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing.” –Source

Creating is at the highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy for a reason. Creating allows students to internalize information in order to create products to display their learning and understanding of different concepts.

App creation is one of the potential ‘disruptive’ elements of the iPad in Schools. Not only is the iPad functional on so many levels but once young people are empowered to actually create the applications they use in school, learning will leap to a completely different level.

App creation is project based learning and holistic learning. Not only can creating apps inspire students to learn about computers, programming, and technical skills, it can also inspire them to learn about marketing and communication – and ultimately entrepreneurialism.

Here’s an article from EducationWeek discussing programs for young people (particularly girls) where mentors and coaches inspire them to build their own applications – learning the language, programming skills as well as marketing skills.

After-school programs geared toward mobile-app development offer appealing ways to academically engage students in technical and entrepreneurial exercises

And while each team has a teacher mentor, “we were really counting on students to take the lead,” says Oster. Students set up their own meetings and work through the curriculum independently, with support from a teacher mentor

Here’s an article from EducationWeek about student app creation to help communities.

In an effort to solve problems in their communities; learn more about programming, development, and marketing; and teach students leadership skills, students across the country are enrolling in programs to help them create their own apps.

Here’s an article by a teacher listing a number of online ‘apps’ that can be used through a browser that can also enable students to create.

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When I talk about apps for schools, used in schools, developed by students, think about all the possibilities. Every aspect of ‘running a school’ can be augmented or improved by applications running on a tablet or in a browser window.

The obvious apps for the classroom include classroom management applications (scheduling, task managers, organizers, etc.). Every teacher could have a custom made application for their classroom and their lesson plans. Students will probably learn more building the applications then they do in the actual lessons!

Apps for administrators can be anything from data dashboards to accessing records, to scheduling, to ordering products and services.

Since funding is an issue with all schools think about the possibility of having an app fair instead of a bake sale to raise money – or more entrepreneurially, having students building applications for local businesses as project based learning.

The possibilities are pretty much endless. What do you think the most interesting application of students creating apps could be?

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