Coding Lab Teachers

Question 1

1. Introduction (10)

Answer 1

1. Start the session by saying, “Welcome to Today at Apple, App Lab for Teachers.” Introduce yourself first and find out:

• Which grades and subjects do they teach?
• Do they have experience teaching code or app design?
• What inspired you to learn more?

2. Emphasize that coding and app design enable students to develop critical skills for the future

App development is one of the fastest growing job sectors in the world. At its current rate, the app economy will add 440,000 new jobs to the U.S. workforce by 2024. Even if students do not want to become developers, coding and app design are tools to teach creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving — skills students need no matter what their career.

3. Set the session expectations

• Learn about free resources Apple has for teaching code and app design for students ages 5–18.
• They will get hands-on with the four parts of the app design cycle.
• They will make their own classroom-inspired app prototypes using Keynote.

Transition: Show the group Slide 1 and say, “Now we’re going to look at free curriculum resources Apple created to make coding accessible for any classroom with students ages 5–18.”

Question 2

2. Curriculum Resources (10)

Answer 2

1. Review the three age groups covered by the curriculum:

• Ages 5–11: Get Started with Code 1 and Get Started with Code 2 focus on block-based coding using codeSpark and Tynker. No prior coding knowledge is required.
• Ages 12–14: Learn to Code 1 & 2 and Learn to Code 3 teach the basics of Swift using Swift Playgrounds. No prior coding knowledge is required.

Swift is a powerful and intuitive programming language created by Apple that makes programming easier, more flexible, and more fun. It is used to build many of the apps we use today and, like every Apple product, was designed with usability in mind when Apple launched the Everyone Can Code campaign to help anyone learn to code.

• Ages 15 and up: Intro to App Development with Swift and App Development with Swift focus on using Xcode to develop apps like a professional developer would. Both of these guides have a teacher and a student version. App Development with Swift is the more advanced version of the two and available in English only.

2. Ask participants to visit https://www.apple.com/education/teaching-code/ and then visit the site on your Forum iPad still displaying the Keynote. This website contains all of Apple’s coding resources for teachers. Start a discussion about the group’s experience and current knowledge of coding. Remind them that everyone can code, no matter their age or experience level, using the resources outlined.
3. Direct participants to Apple Books on their iPad devices. Let them know the first book of each curriculum group (Get Started with Coding 1, Learn to Code 1 & 2, and Intro to App Development with Swift) are available for them to open and explore now. Have teachers take 5 minutes to look through the curriculum guides.

Question 3

3. Design an App Prototype (45)

Answer 3

Design an App Prototype (45 minutes)

Reminder: Make sure you point out the embedded Keynote resources and project files for teachers in the guides so they see that lessons have already been created for their use.

1. Show Slide 2 of the Keynote, which introduces the app design cycle, and talk about each phase. Let them know that the session will focus on one activity for each of the following phases:

• Brainstorm: Identify your app concept
• Plan: Decide on content, features, user workflow, and visual design
• Prototype: Build a functional model you can use to test with others
• Evaluate: Review with others for feedback

Why app design? Apps can help complete a task, teach something new, or just entertain. Think about how an app has impacted your daily life. Designing an app starts with an idea. A prototype brings basic functionality to your idea without needing code. Once you’ve committed to your app’s design and features (planning), code makes these apps a reality.

2. Discuss with teachers how they would engage their students in brainstorming an app idea. Suggest that they start by asking students to think about a problem they would like to solve. Students can think of apps that have made peoples’ lives better, made a task easier, or helped connect them to others as sources of inspiration.
3. Have teachers brainstorm app ideas that would make sense for their subjects, such as a math quiz app or an augmented reality (AR) app that recreates historical events. Other ideas include:

• A quiz app with answers (the finished “Help Animals” English sample available in Hello)
• A messenger app to support group projects
• An app for tracking attendance

Pro Tip

Teachers can explore the App Store for ideas under “Education” if they’re unsure.

4. Share slide 3 with the three key areas of app design to help teachers plan their apps:

• iOS features and content — Information and hardware and software features (like the camera, GPS, touchscreen, accessibility features, etc.) of the device featured in the app
• Interaction design — How users navigate through the app using elements like icons, shapes, and buttons
• Visual design — The colors, images, and fonts that help bring personality, clarity, and ease of use to the app

Pro Tip

User Interface (UI) refers to how things are laid out and accessed by the user. Interaction and visual design contribute to a UI. A well-designed UI with integrated features contributes to a good User Experience (UX).

5. Have teachers write down their thoughts and sketch ideas for their app concept using the Notes app with iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. This activity is meant to be quick and messy — just enough time to capture ideas before working on the app prototype in Keynote. First map out the features and content of their app, then begin to think about navigation with interaction design.
6. Ask participants these questions to as they’re sketching to guide the activity:

• What does the content look like?
• How will students navigate through their apps?
• What could elements like icons, shapes, or buttons activate for the student?

Transition: Say, “Now it’s time to bring your app to life with a basic functional model — or prototype — using Keynote.”

7. Mirror your iPad on the Forum Display so participants can follow along as you demonstrate building your own prototype using the provided template.

A prototype is a functional model of an app concept with basic functionality so you can test things like app structure and navigation and improve based on the user’s experience. When you have a working prototype of an app, you can show it to real people who might want to use your app, and they can give you feedback about your idea. This allows you to make adjustments to improve and refine your idea before you’ve invested time and money into actually building it.

8. Follow these prototyping steps to first map out the content, then add links for navigation, and then visual design finishing touches:

• Plot out all the different screens as slides
• Add content to the screens in the form of shapes, drawings, or text
• Link buttons to trigger touch events and add navigation
• Add animation to show how users would move between screens
• Explore changing colors, fonts and images

Reminder: If the group needs inspiration, show your demo or the “Help Animals” app prototype and point out useful elements of the interface. Showing a finished prototype at the beginning can be overwhelming, so start by sharing only a few initial screens.

9. After the demo, give teachers 10 minutes to work on their own prototype. Use these questions to help guide them:

• What is the first screen a user sees? What happens next?
• What kinds of images will be displayed?
• How many taps will it take for the user to find out what they need to know?
• How will users return to the menu screen?

10. Have attendees share their prototypes with a partner to test them out. Encourage everyone to give at least one suggestion for improving the prototype.

Question 4

4. Celebration and Wrap-up (15)

Answer 4

Have those who are interested share what they’ve created with the group.

Feedback is critical to making your app better and will only help improve your design. At this point, a developer would create multiple iterations of the design and do user testing to determine which works best.

Display each Keynote for the group and ask the teachers to speak about their process. Be sure to encourage feedback among the group. Ask:

• Which skills will be helpful for students as they create their apps?
• Where did participants run into challenges?
• How will participants apply this to what they currently teach?

Transition: Say, “Let’s share what we’ve created with the group and discuss how you might apply what we’ve learned with your students.”

Question 5

5. How to go Further (10)

Answer 5

Show Slide 4 to share other resources like Apple Teacher (where available), where they can receive their Swift badge, and the Teaching Code website with the Everyone Can Code free curriculum guides available on Apple Books. If time allows, have teachers download the coding books on their own devices or download and explore the Swift Playgrounds app.

Pro Tip

Inform more advanced participants that they can go to Apple UI Design Resources for iOS to download a full range of customizable iOS graphical elements.

Pro Tip

For advanced classrooms, Apple has partnered with Certiport to offer a certification test for students who have completed the App Development with Swift course. Teachers can learn more about this certification online at https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Certifications/Apple/App-Dev-With-Swift/Overview (website English only).

Invite teachers to join other Today at Apple sessions on Slide 5:

Other sessions for teachers in music, art & design, photography, and video.

App Lab for attendees interested in developing an app concept for something they care about.

Coding Lab for Kids: Sphero Robot Obstacle Challenge to explore block-based coding with Sphero robot for kids ages 6–12.

Coding Skills: Getting Started with Swift Playgrounds for participants new to coding and interested in learning more.

Coding Skills: Programming Robots with Swift Playgrounds lets participants take their Swift Playgrounds learning further with the Meebot robot.

Apple Field Trips for students and teachers to bring in their students or fellow teachers for a 90-minute custom learning experience.