Using app inventor in a K-12 summer camp

Abstract

Educators are often seeking new ways to motivate or inspire students to learn. Our past efforts in K-12 outreach included robotics and media computation as the contexts for teaching Computer Science (CS). With the deep interest in mobile technologies among teenagers, our recent outreach has focused on using smartphones as a new context. This paper is an experience report describing our approach and observations from teaching a summer camp for high school students using App Inventor (AI). The paper describes two separate methods (one using a visual block language, and another using Java) that were taught to high school students as a way to create Android applications. We observed that initiating the instruction with the block language, and then showing the direct mapping to an equivalent Java version, assisted students in understanding app development in Java. Our evaluation of the camp includes observations of student work and artifact assessment of student projects. Although the assessment suggests the camp was successful in several areas, we present numerous lessons learned based on our own reflection on the camp content and instruction.

Instructional Media and Teaching Methods for Engaging Children with Computer Programming

“…It is a tangible technology, very common and famous among young people. Educators could take advantage of devices like tablets and smart phones for motivating in computer science topics [22]. Finally, some researchers additionally use unplugged computer science activities [7] or even textual programming languages [12].…”

Looking at Algorithm Visualization through the Eyes of Pre-service ICT Teachers

“…Morelli and Colleagues asserted that AI is easy to learn, accessible and lead students to problem solving instead of coding [47]. It is also indicated that AI is a highly motivating and powerful instructional tool [49]. Instructors have been using AV software for different educational aims in different contexts.…”

Position statement: App inventor instructional resources for creating tangible apps

“…Researchers have used App Inventor in summer camps and other outreach activities for K12 students for several years now [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. App Inventor has also been effectively used for professional development workshops for K12 teachers [6], [7], as well as introductory computing courses at the college level [8], [9], [10].…”