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Please contact sacoord@sfu.ca for questions regarding App Development Workshop.
Sample Programs
App Dev Summer Camp
The App Development (App Dev) Summer Camp is a week-long virtual workshop series where students will build a randomizer app! Students will:
- create a paper prototype to design their apps;
- learn the app concepts and logics;
- create a functioning app using Thunkable (a drag-and-drop app builder).
Theme
It’s dinner time and you’re faced with the million-dollar question, “What should we have for dinner?” You spend time thinking about all the delicious foods you crave. “Mmm, pizza, noodle soup, sushi…”
And then you make a decision and a suggestion, but your sibling or friend wants something else instead. What should you do now? Fear not! In the App Development Summer Camp, students will learn how to plan, design, and code a random food picker app!
Video demo: https://youtu.be/1Ob-mWkSbf4
Sample Workshop Schedule
Session |
Workshop | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Ideation | Creating wireframes: students will design their apps by creating paper prototypes |
| Day 2 | Thunkable 1.0 | Our Thunkable workshops will cover the following:
The progress of covering the concepts above will depend on the pace of the class. |
| Day 3 | Thunkable 2.0 | |
| Day 4 | Thunkable 3.0 | |
| Day 5 | Show-and-Tell | Students will present their apps to the class and celebrate their work! |
Sample Camp Schedule
There will be associated camp fees.
| Week | Time | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1: June 28-30 & July 2nd | 10am - 12pm | 6-7 |
| Week 2: July 5-9 | 10am - 11:30am | 4-5 |
| Week 3: July 12-16 | 10am - 11:30am | 6-7 |
| Week 4: July 19-23 | 10am - 11:30am | 4-5 |
| Week 5: July 26-30 | 10am - 11:30am | 4-5 |
| Week 6: Aug 3-6 | 10am - 12pm | 6-7 |
| Week 7: Aug 9-13 | 10am - 11:30am | 6-7 |
| Week 8: Aug 16-20 | 10am - 11:30am | 4-5 |
Technology Requirement
Due to the virtual nature of the program, students will need the following to participate in the program.
If you anticipate any technical and/or connectivity limitations that might prevent you from participating in this virtual workshop series, please inform the program coordinator (sacoord@sfu.ca).
Basic requirements
- Internet access
- Laptop/Desktop computer. Tablets are not ideal for this workshop.
- Thunkable account: You can sign up here https://thunkable.com/#/
- System requirements:
- https://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/content/system-requirements.html
- The system requirements for Thunkable are not listed on its website. Since Thunkable is developed by the same research group that developed App Inventor, let's refer to the system requirements of App Inventor
- Web browser: Use this link to check your browser version https://www.whatismybrowser.com/
- Wireframe templates and writing utensils:
- If you have access to a printer, please remember to print at least two sheets of the wireframe template.
- Alternatively, you could use two sheets of blank papers to draw your wireframes
- Please remember to have your writing utensils. A pencil and an eraser would be preferred over using a pen (it’s less messy if you make mistakes).
Optional
- Mobile device or tablet with the Thunkable Live app installed.
- Our workshops will introduce students to components of smartphones and tablets such as the accelerometer.
- If students want to live test these features, they will need a mobile device or a tablet with the Thunkable Live app installed. The Thunkable Live app is free.
You can download the document below for a detailed sample of the program.
Wireframe templates can be downloaded here.