mobile phone apps in cs0 using app inventor for android

MOBILE PHONE APPS IN CS0 USING APP INVENTOR FOR ANDROID Hal Abelson Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology 32 Vassar Street Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) 253-5856 [email protected] Mark Chang Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Olin Way Needham, MA 02492 781-292-2559 [email protected] Eni Mustafaraj, Franklyn Turbak Computer Science Department Wellesley College 106 Central St. Wellesley MA, 02481 781-283-3095, 781-283-3049 [email protected], [email protected] ABSTRACT App Inventor for Android (AIA) is a new visual programming environment developed by Google to enable nonprogrammers to create simple mobile phone applications on Android phones. AIA programs are constructed by dragging and dropping components into an interface designer, and then describing the behavior of the components in a Scratchlike block-based programming environment. Programs are developed on a computer, and then downloaded and tested on a phone. In a Fall 2009 pilot program, AIA was used in introductory courses at eleven colleges and universities and at a high school. This workshop is targeted at faculty teaching introductory computer science courses in college or high school. We will lead hands-on activities in which participants will create applications test them on phones that we will provide. We will also describe our experiences with using it in our courses, demonstrate applications created by students, and discuss relevant teaching techniques and practical issues.

1

TENTATIVE WORKSHOP AGENDA (3 HOURS) 1. Motivation and design philosophy (5 minutes). 2. Hands-on walk-through of two simple applications (30 minutes). 3. Demonstration of student apps from our courses (10 minutes). 4. Brainstorming about applications participants can write during the session (10 minutes). 5. Break (5 minutes). 6. Independent work by participants, with support from workshop leaders (60 minutes). 7. Break (5 minutes). 8. Q&A about AIA system (10 minutes). 9. Presentation of pilot course experiences, including sample assignments and projects, particularly from Wellesley and Olin (25 minutes). 10. Discussion of whether and how to incorporate mobile phone programming and AIA into courses taught by participants (20 minutes). WORKSHOP LEADERS Hal Abelson is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. He won the 1995 Taylor L. Booth Education Award given by IEEE Computer Society for continued contributions to the pedagogy and teaching of introductory computer science, exemplified by the Logo and Scheme languages and their associated methodologies. While a visiting faculty member at Google, he was one of the founders of AIA. Mark L. Chang is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering where he led a prototype AIA course in the Fall of 2009. Marks current research interests include engineering education, reconfigurable computing, and the intersection of ubiquitous/mobile computing and social media. Eni Mustafaraj is a Visiting Scientist at the Computer Science Department, Wellesley College. In Fall 2009, she co-taught the experimental course ”Technologies for Communication” aimed at non-majors, and was responsible for creating teaching materials for AIA. She collaborated with members of the Google team to create a specific AIA component (Voting), to use in the classroom in a discussion about Internet Voting. In her research, she is interested in the problem of finding qualitative information on the Web and how social media content is incorporated in search results. Franklyn Turbak is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Wellesley College. In Fall 2009, he mentored students in the introductory CS course that used AIA. His research focuses on the design, analysis, and implementation of expressive programming languages.

2

PARTICIPANT REQUIREMENTS Participants must bring laptops with wireless networking. The laptops can run any operating system, as long as they have a supported browser (currently Firefox 3 or higher) and version 1.6 or higher of the Java Runtime Environment. The AIA environment is accessed via the Web so no other software need be installed. (Note: if the workshop is held in a computer classroom where the computers satisfy the requirements, laptops would be optional.) Participants also need to have gmail accounts, since these accounts are necessary to access AIA. We will supply the Android phones that will be used by the participants during the workshop. ENROLLMENT Enrollment should be limited to 30 (space permitting) to ensure we can offer adequate support to participants. PRESENTATION REQUIREMENTS • Wireless connectivity to the Internet is required both for the laptops (because AIA programs are developed via communication with Google servers) and the Android phones (because AIA apps must be downloaded via wireless in order to execute them). • A digital projector and screen are necessary for demonstrating the programming environment. • Easy access to electrical outlets for the participants’ laptops is highly desirable. • A document projection system is highly desirable for showing applications running on the Android phone. • The room should have adequate space for presenters to reach participants.

3