Starting as a learning tech coach at Renaissance College three years ago, it was my first time to work with our math team. I would say... Probably the first time for RedDoor (Learning Technology department) to work with the team. Ever since then, now I feel like I'm a part of the math team now!
We started with ZERO project and now are having projects going on every month across different year groups. This is just incredible - I'm so happy to work with a group of educators are so open-minded, forward-thinking and also inclusive.
This project started with another one - using randomness to create games with Micro:Bit. See the previous project here - LINK. After that, teachers received so much positive feedback. Therefore, we decided to run one more project about probability. This time, I want to bring App Design to our math class.
The other reason about doing this project is because we have a set of old Android phones - to make my learning technology more sustainable. I constantly seek for opportunities to use those old devices. Using old phones to test out finished apps is also a great way to bring them back to life.
This project I used AppInventor - free, support further learning and accessible. We did two app designs in two lessons. Both apps have randomness as one of the core elements in the design and coding.
To support a big class (25 students), sometimes you have to make extra supporting materials.
I ran this integration with all of Y8 lessons (5 classes in total). Everyone had a blast, the teachers and students. I had two girls who were very quiet during the lesson time told me after the class - this is so fun! We love it. Wish we could do it again!
I'm sharing both my slides and supporting materials here. Would love to do more app design lessons if I have chances. And feel free to contact me for more ideas; also hope those materials will be useful to more educators and students!
Here's the overview of the supporting material.
Click to download it.