Stop just using apps. Start building them.

Imagine it. Design it. Code it. Test it. Share it.

In App Creators, students go from using technology to creating it. Working in pairs, they design and code their own mobile apps with MIT App Inventor, a block-based programming tool, and learn the same design, debug, and improve cycle professional developers use. The course is built on Project Lead The Way's Gateway curriculum, with extra time spent on game apps and final app design.

What students learn

App design: planning screens, buttons, and layouts that make sense to the people using the app.

Programming: events, variables, conditions, loops, and functions, all by building apps that actually do something.

Device features: using a phone's sensors, like location and orientation, to make apps that respond to the real world.

Debugging: figuring out why an app doesn't work and fixing it, one bug at a time.

Pair programming: working with a partner to plan, build, and troubleshoot together.

What students build

Game apps. Students code their own playable games, working with scoring, timers, moving objects, and win conditions, then test them on each other.

Apps built with AI. Students design an app, then use an AI assistant to build it as a web page. They test it, find what doesn't work, and refine it, learning how to give clear instructions and judge whether the result is any good.

Final app project. Teams find a real problem in their school or community and build an app to help solve it. Students spend extra time planning, designing, testing with real users, and improving their app before presenting it.

Need an extra copy of Mr. Register's engineering notebook?  [Engineering Notebook link]

Student showcase