Student teams judged by business leaders to be national champions in the Apps for Good app development competition launched their published creations at Thomson Reuters, London on 30th January 2014. Judged to be the best app to solve a real-world problem in a new way, the student teams have spent the past few months working with their developer agency partners to have the app built professionally. Each app is now available on an app store (either via Google Play, Apple App Store or BlackBerry’s app store). The objective of the Apps for Good course, which has been mapped against both the national curriculum and OFSTED criteria, is to transform the way technology is taught in schools; to empower students from all backgrounds to seize the opportunities of our digital age and create solutions to the problems they care about, using technology.
The competition, sponsored by major industry partners and run by education technology movement Apps for Good, concludes the app development course that each student will have taken during the school year 2012/13. Judging was carried out by leaders in the technology industry and sponsoring organisations Thomson Reuters, BlackBerry, Barclaycard, SAP, Dell and TalkTalk, with support from partners Nominet Trust and the Financial Times.
Debbie Forster, UK managing director of Apps for Good explained, “Traditional education systems are wasting talent. Many young people are de-motivated by traditional teaching methods that leave them ill-prepared for the real world. Technology is advancing, exciting the imagination of young people who want to use it to make, play and share. We believe that technology can be a great equaliser and a massive force for good to transform lives and communities anywhere around the world. The course teaches coding and the fundamentals of the digital world, while also developing skills in problem solving, creativity, communication and teamwork.”
The published apps are entitled Cattle Manager, Dog Log, Pitch Pals, Pockupation, The Story Wall, Social Bank and Supportive Schedule.
During the Apps for Good course, students work together as teams to find real issues they care about and learn to build a mobile, web or social app to solve them. Like professional entrepreneurs, the students follow the key aspects of new product development, from idea generation, technical feasibility and programming to product design, deciding on business models and marketing.
About Apps for Good
Apps for Good is an open-source technology education movement that aims to build a new global generation of problem solvers and makers: students who can create, launch and market new products that change the world. Apps for Good partners with educators in schools and learning centres to deliver their app development course to young people 10-18 years of age. They provide the course content, training and connections to Expert volunteers, and then let teachers do what they are best at – inspiring and guiding young people. In the 2013/2014 academic year, Apps for Good is working with over 210 schools who are delivering the course to more than 17,000 students across the UK. Applications are now open for schools to become an Apps for Good Education Partners for the 2014/2015 academic year.
Visit www.appsforgood.org for further details.