Summer Web Design Class Day 5

Update- check out the website created by Graeme!

http://mhswebdesign.com/summer2015/MHS_Welcome.html

Today: getting started with designing apps

1.  The difference between websites and mobile apps

A website is viewed on any device (computer, mobile phone, tablet) with a browser (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc.).

A mobile app is software designed to run on phones and tablets.

Questions:

Can you think of any websites that also have mobile apps?

Can you view websites on mobile devices?  How?

How can websites be designed so they look good on any device?

2. Creating apps for Android with MIT’s AppInventor

Today we will use MIT App Inventor to create mobile apps.

App Inventor is a free resource that can be used to create apps for Android devices.

We will test the apps you create on my old Android phone.

To begin, go here:

appinventor.mit.edu

Then click Invent

At this point you will need to log in using your Gmail information (username and password). If you don’t have a Gmail account you can use my school account.

We are going to do a tutorial together as a class.

Here is the tutorial we will follow:

http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/content/hellopurr.html

Done?

Check out some more fun AppInventor tutorials you can follow to create another app.

What else to do?

Here is a big list of some helpful app tutorials. If you are interested in learning more about app development for Apple and/or Android, this list is a good place to start.

3.  What if you want to do this at home?

Here are some resources if you want to continue learning:

– Web design tutorials for kids:

http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/series/web-design-for-kids–cms-823

– Download Notepad++ to use as an HTML editor- http://notepad-plus-plus.org/

– Get other free programs for your computer- http://ninite.com/

– Free photo editor- http://pixlr.com/

– Create apps for free for Android devices (you will need a Gmail account)- http://appinventor.mit.edu/

– Check out this list of best resources for learning programming online for free.  Code.org is also a great place to go.  Also see MadeWithCode.com.

– Links to even more cool things-https://www.mhswebdesign.com/cool-stuff/ and https://www.mhswebdesign.com/after-school/

Questions? Feel free to email me at agoldsberry@gmail.com.

4.  Work on whatever you want!

Some ideas:

a.  Take the HTML and CSS challenge

b.  Make an app with App Inventor

c.  Build an iPhone game in your browser or try learning Swift, a new language for creating iPhone and iPad apps

d.  Something else you want to work on

e.  Continue with the stuff you’ve already made this week