Basics X App Inventor 1 - Weekly Course for Ages 11 - 12

MOBILE PROGRAMMING WITH APP INVENTOR

Prerequisites: We welcome students who have completed Basics 4 A/B with us. For students who are at least 11 years old and have completed Primary 4 in the local school system or Year 4 in the international school system, no prior experience is necessary.

Basics X is a supplementary, topic-based series of courses offered on a seasonal basis featuring topics in block-based computer programming. Each iteration of this course will focus on a specific topic over 8 lessons designed to stimulate kids’ curiosity and challenge them in various technological domains - examples of topics covered in previous iterations include machine learning using Scratch X; the Internet of Things (IoT) exploring hardware using the micro:bit; and Mobile Programming using App Inventor.

This course involves mobile programming and more complex data types with App Inventor.

With the rapid proliferation of smartphones and growing dominance of mobile usage, mobile programming presents one of the most relatable and relevant domains in which our students will apply their programming knowledge and skills. In this course, Code Campers will learn to decompose a mobile application into its component parts - buttons, labels, images, functionality, etc.; design a user interface that conveys the look and feel of their imagination; and code the behaviour that will govern how the user interacts with the app and how the app responds.

It sounds simple enough but mobile programming, despite being the most engaging, is also the most demanding domain within the Basics roadmap because it requires higher degrees of abstraction using complex data types. Code Campers will need to understand components (a complex data type known as an object which bundles Properties together), properties (types of variables that are bundled in a component), procedures (named sequences of code that perform a specific task), event handlers (routines that deal with an event), lists (an ordered collection of items), for loops (iterations through a list), and scope (the extent of visibility of variables within a program). Each of these are integral concepts in mobile programming and App Inventor.

At the end of this course, Code Campers will be able to design a simple user interface and build apps such as a simple game, a texting app and a painting app.

Course Schedule

This is a 8 lesson course. Lessons will be conducted online on Saturdays, 430pm-630pm. Full details will be sent via email to parents, lessons will be run via zoom.