Transcript App inventor as a recruiting and retention tool

Tim Krause, PhD
University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
Overview

App Inventor Course Design

First Offering – Fall 2010

Second Offering – Spring 2011

Next Steps & Issues

Additional Resources
Course Design
Ind. study
I
Ind. study
II
CIS
102
CIS
499
CIS
102
Personal
Research
Spring 2010
2010/2011
Spring 2012
Course Design

Spring 2010:
 Two independent studies:
○ iOS
○ Android
 Personal research and development
Course Design: Resources

Internal College grant (with D. Gibbs):
 2 Android Dev II Phones ($800)
 1 Apple iPad ($499)
Course Design - Findings

iOS:
 Limited access to hardware
 Expense of integrated developer program
 Objective C learning curve

Android:
 Access to hardware in department*
 Affordable/optional developer program
 Ease of development: App Inventor
Course Design: 2010 - 2011

CIS 102 (1 credit) – Pilot
 3 First-Year

3 Sophomore
2 Junior
CIS 499 (2-3 credit) – Mentoring and
course design
 4 Senior
App I: The Brain Reference
App I: The Brain Reference
App II: MineMaze
App II: MineMaze
Course Design: Format
WK
Activity
2
Setup development environment, Hello Purr Application
3
Basic Tutorial I (PaintPot)
4
Basic Tutorial II (MoleMash OR PicCall)
5
Advanced Tutorial I (student choice)
6
Advanced Tutorial II (student choice)
7
Semester Project Proposals
8
Semester Project Design/Wireframe/Prototype
9
Setup Eclipse development environment (advanced)
10
Status reports
11
Overview of iOS development
12
Status reports
13
Overview of other framework development (HTML5/CSS3)
14
Status reports
15
Informal presentation to class
16
Formal presentation to faculty and student body
App Inventor for Android
Increased Collaboration
Increased Collaboration

JRs and SRs modeled problem-solving
and other skills: mentoring

Example: App Inventor was buggy and
difficult to install

Solution: students created a list of
helpful links and a how-to guide for
installation
Increased Collaboration

That difficult install?

Students telling students to read
instructions was powerful!
Increased Engagement

Students voluntarily chose to abandon
App Inventor (spring 2011) in favor of
custom development in Eclipse

Students voluntarily chose to explore
other mobile development frameworks
and presented to class:
 HTML, CSS, JS
 Appccelerator
 PhoneGap
Increased Engagement

Fall internships locally (2)
Independently Developed Apps
Independently Developed Apps
Independently Developed Apps
Next Steps

iOS training for faculty (summer 2011)

Refine CIS 102 and offer as a
course for non-majors (spring 2012)
Issues: App Inventor Support
Issues: App Inventor Support
Issues

Local employer demand:
 Dozens of positions
 Transitioning development from desktop
development to mobile
 Focus on iOS devices: iPad, iPhone
Issues

Hardware and operating system:
 Macintosh (Intel-based): OSX 10.5, 10.6
 Windows: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7
 GNU/Linux: Ubuntu 8+, Debian 5+

Java 6 (1.6)

Had to rely on students' hardware
Issues

Fragmented development options
HTML5 Examples:
 AppMobi:
http://www.appmobi.com/
 Adobe Edge:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/edge/
 Jo:
http://joapp.com/
Issues: Coolness Factor

For me, in the classroom:
 1995
 2005
 2010
-
HTML
Second Life
Mobile
Resources
(student recommended)
Installing
Eclipse:
Eclipse
http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/eclipse
-classic-362/heliossr2
Android SDK
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Java JRE
http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp
Java JDK
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/do
wnloads/jdk-6u25-download-346242.html
Resources
(student recommended)
Install the JRE
2. Install JDK
3. Install Android SDK
4. Run Eclipse as Administrator
5. Install Google ADT through Eclipse
6. Install Android SDK and AVD Manager
through Eclipse
1.
Resources
(student recommended)

Tutorials:
Hello World with App Inventor
http://developer.android.com/resources/tutorials/helloworld.html
How to install Android SDK with Eclipse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIL1UouA4dE
Troubleshooting ADT
http://wood1978.dyndns.org/~wood/wordpress/?p=275