[Year 12 SofDev] App development Sorry for the x-posts!)

[Kevork Krozian]

Hi Adrian,

   This is all very useful to all of our colleagues.

I recently completed an Android app writing PD at Swinburne Uni Hawthorn
using appinventor ( see appinventor.org ) and found it very powerful and
effortless in transferring to a phone or sharing with other phones. For
those who don't have a phone an emulator will still allow testing of the
app on Mac or PC. The resources (software, textbooks, completed apps ) are
free online. The programming environment is a "scratch" type with no
actual coding but a GUI to connect objects, add methods, change properties
and parameters. This would translate to a Yr 8 to 10 course so much more
easily than say writing code in XNA or in Objective C I feel.

  There are sections on using multi dimensional arrays, saving to a
database and much more. Is it starting to look like it could slot into
Software Development as a language ? Of course the coding would have to
be done in Java for it to be acceptable. There are efforts to provide a
java view of the Appinventor GUI see http://www.appinventor.org/roadmap
but that would need to be clarified for Units 3 and 4 Software
Development purposes.

    An equally useful discussion would be to compare the competing app
writing and programming options. eg. Cost of registering as a devloper
? How much will students understand when writing code in a language
like Objective C or C# for that matter ?

    One of the most useful apps in this series I worked on was "Find my
car" which allows recording of the current location using the GPS
feature in the phone and then after moving to another location
requesting a map showing how to find the car again. This interfaced
with a voice feature where instructions are announced on how to find
your way back to the car or if they are in the same spot, the family
members you may have lost ......

    All very exciting ...

Keep well

Kevork

> Hi Travis,
>
> Apologies for the previous email - I have just transitioned to a new
> notebook and I had not set up my email signature yet!
>
> I also hope I didn't get your hopes up! - basically what I wanted to say
> is
> that I have been teaching myself x-code / objective c this year and also
> plan to run an iPhone / iPad dev course in 2013 - I would love to
> collaborate on something if you are interested?
>
> Cheers,
> Adrian
>
>
> Adrian Janson B.Sc, Dip.Ed, M.Ed
> eLearning Coordinator
> Melbourne High School, Forrest Hill, South Yarra, Victoria 3141 Australia.
> Phone: 03 9826 0711 International: +61 3 9826 0711
> Fax: 03 9826 8767 International: +61 3 9826 8767
> E-mail: janson.adrian.a at edumail.vic.gov.au
> Website: http://www.mhs.vic.edu.au
> Blog: http://jansona.edublogs.org
>
>
> From: sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au
> [mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au]
> On Behalf Of Travis Parker
> Sent: Monday, 21 May 2012 1:56 PM
> To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List
> Subject: [Year 12 SofDev] App development Sorry for the x-posts!)
>
> Dear All,
>
> Now that we have about 2250 iPads floating around the college, I was
> thinking of implementing an "App Development" course at year 10 next year
> that will run for a semester. We have also got a lab of 30 iMacs and  was
> going to use them to create iPad apps (Using XCode???). I was wondering
> whether anyone does anything similar to this currently, or has any ideas
> on
> what to include. I'd be happy to share and compare notes and experiences
> with any interested parties.
>
> Cheers
>
> Trav
>
>
>
> Travis Parker
> Head of ICT and E-Learning
> Beaconhills College
> ( 1300 002 225 ext 3016
> or Direct Dial (03) 5945 3016
>
>
>
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