March 6, 2016

In the context of this course, Smart Skills include technical skills such as app design and software development, and transferable skills such as creativity, problem-solving, teamwork, and project management. The course seeks to show students where these fields overlap and

Students should have access to a PC or Mac with Internet access, preferably one computer per student, with Google Chrome installed. The school’s computers, network, and connectivity will be assessed during a site visit by DCU Access Service staff.

None! The course is designed to be delivered by teachers who are comfortable using a PC, and the necessary training and support will be provided. As this is an interactive class where not all answers can be known in advance,

None! The only prerequisite for students is that they have an active Google account, and know their password. MIT App Inventor uses Google accounts to identify students and store their project work online.

Lessons are based around building a number of Android apps using MIT App Inventor. Detailed instructional videos and transcripts are provided; students will work through this material at their own pace. All videos are available on YouTube for convenience.

In addition to the videos, teachers have access to a full suite of supporting materials, including: reference library, test methods, project briefs, teaching notes, sample apps, and further challenges for students who progress quickly. This material can be accessed directly

The course is structured as an introductory session followed by three modules, with new concepts introduced in each module, and put into practice by building an Android app. There is no fixed timescale for each module, as the time taken

No, one tablet for every four or five students is sufficient, as students only need access to a tablet to test their apps: the majority of the time will be spent on the design and coding stages using MIT App

In theory, it should be possible to run MIT App Inventor apps on any Android phone or tablet. This includes Amazon Fire tablets, as their Fire OS operating system is based on Android. There are a number of 7” tablets

Yes, provided they have enabled ‘sideloading’ of apps, that is, installing apps from sources other than official online app stores. This can usually be enabled on the Settings / Security screen, and appears as an option to install apps from

No, this course uses MIT App Inventor which currently builds apps for Android phones and tablets only. An iOS version of App Inventor is under development, but as of April 2019 has not yet been launched for public access.

Yes, as long as students have the use of a suitable PC or Mac with Internet access, they can work on their apps from any location. All of their work is automatically saved by MIT App Inventor, provided they use

Information about updates to course content and supporting materials, as well as hints, tips and industry news relevant to the course, are published on the DCU TY Course Development blog. Access to the blog is by invitation only, and teachers

Yes, it is possible to use MIT App Inventor in a browser running on a tablet, building and testing apps on the same device. There are some challenges with this approach, however.

The Project Brief for each core project includes an Extra Challenges section with suggestions for further development of the app described in the lesson. In addition, the Extras section of the app library includes a number of apps that make

The majority of apps in this course (and other tutorials) use ‘fixed sizing’ with a screen size of 320×480 pixels, which works well with emulators and phones. When designing apps for use on physical devices, ‘responsive sizing’ allows the full

The Extras section of the app library includes apps to demonstrate the media and sensor capabilities of Android devices. Not all devices include all media and sensor capabilities: for example, most phones include a vibrate function, but tablets typically don’t;

March 16, 2016

Training takes place in DCU at the start of the academic year. The half-day session introduces you to MIT App Inventor, including building your first app, and to the course material. You should plan to follow this by spending some

August 21, 2016

Yes, you can. One way to do this is to run a web server (e.g. Flask) on the Raspberry Pi, and use the App Inventor Web component to communicate with it, sending HTTP requests and decoding JSON responses. There are

You have three options: use an existing Gmail account create a new Google account and Gmail address: https://accounts.google.com/SignUp create a Google account using your existing email address: https://accounts.google.com/SignUpWithoutGmail If your students do not have GAFE email addresses, they will need

April 19, 2019

Yes, you can. One way to do this is to establish a Bluetooth connection between the Android device and LEGO Mindstorms EV3 control block. There are some examples in the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 section of the DCU TY App Library.