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Blog
So you want to make Facebook Apps? Facebook course is here
Posted by admin on April 19th, 2012
Satwant Singh Kenth, Education Officer and Facebook course project manager, talks about the launch of the next course.
You can apply now to our second pilot Facebook course!
The course is all about creating Facebook Apps that solve problems you (the student) are passionate about solving. You’ll design the app, get expert advice and feedback on it, create/build the app, test it and even present it to experts in the tech field at the Facebook headquarters in London on the 18th of July.
The first pilot went really well, even better than we’d hoped. We watched students who had never coded before walk away with not just the confidence to code, but the confidence to go out and work as developers!
We’ve learnt a few really interesting things during the first course, including what it takes to become a good coder. At the moment when people think of coding, they feel that coders need to be good at Maths. Now I’m not saying I completely disagree with that, but I have come to the realisation that it’s not the only thing you need, and just being good at Maths doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be good at learning how to code.
For those of you thinking of applying for the course, here are some tips on how to become a great coder, even if you’ve never done any before.
Here are a few things that can help in the process of learning to code…
- Be Fearless! I’m not saying you have to venture into uncharted territory, fight Voldemort or hold a spider in your hand (I hate spiders). What I mean is that it’s important that you’re not afraid to fiddle around with settings on a computer and just see what happens. If it breaks, it breaks! You can always use undo or a quick restart to solve your problems. A back-up of your work always helps too!
- Be like Sherlock Holmes! Learn martial arts and get a side-kick….no, actually, don’t. What you do need to be able to do is search for clues and use “elementary, my dear” logic to solve problems. Here’s an example:
Found 3 different pieces of code that do exactly what you need? Then just piece them together like a puzzle, bit by bit and you’ll end up with what you want. Take out what you don’t want, keep what you need, etc. Sounds easy, but some people just don’t do this!
- Relax and be lazy, just take a breather and stay cool. If things don’t work the first time (they never do!) just learn from it and try something else. Yes, you read that right… be lazy, keep things simple, don’t try and reinvent the wheel. If there’s code already available, just use it!(get permission first though!)
- Admit you’re human. That’s right, you’re human, you are not a robot! You do not have to memorise every last bit of coding and every last syntax known to man. What you do need to be able to do is know how to use machines to you to do the jobs we humans are not the best at doing.
Google is great at searching, so use it to find solutions to your problems instead to trying to find millions of solutions yourself!
- Be persistent- that’s it, nothing more to say about this, no matter how many times you fail, just keep going!
Hopefully you can see it doesn’t take a super hero to become a coder.
Good luck and make sure you apply!
Sat
Apps for Good in our School
Posted by admin on March 21st, 2012
Kirsty Tonks, Director of e-Learning at Shireland Collegiate Academy talks about Apps for Good at her school.
Number of students: 92 – Year 9 students
Location: Birmingham, UK
1) Why did you decide to do Apps for Good at your school?
In January 2011, I was lucky enough to see Iris Lapinski present about Apps for Good at the Learning Without Frontiers Conference and was not only struck by the clarity and purposefulness of the programme, but also the enthusiasm, confidence and authority which the students who had been through the programme presented with. I knew there and then that this had real potential and would fit perfectly in our academy as a real driver for both Design and ICT, but more importantly something that would absolutely catch the imagination of our students.
2) How have you implemented Apps for Good?
This year our Apps for Good Programme has been delivered in curriculum time to four discreet classes in Y9 totalling 92 students. Students have been put in groups of 4 or 5 and have had lessons delivered by qualified teachers and assessed under normal conditions. In addition the Academy has implemented a voluntary class after the Academy Day.
3) What have students gained from the course?
Students have gained an appreciation of the collegiate nature of project work and the need to reach consensus. They have benefited greatly from the ability to concentrate on a single project for a period of time and to iterate improvements. Students have gained skills in the areas of Business and Technology they would never had an opportunity to explore until Year 10.
4) What have teachers gained from the course?
Teachers have had the opportunity to work with students in a different way; focussed project work with a clear outcome has allowed development of leadership roles by students and new classroom management systems by teachers. In addition the project has allowed teachers the opportunity to teach soft skills to students such as resilience and problem-solving which have built upon the competency framework that we operate in Year 8.
5) Why would you recommend Apps for Good to other schools?
Apps for Good is fast becoming one of our key delivery mechanisms for Design and Technology and in light of recent emphases on ICT programming, this will link rather well with other elements of our curriculum delivery, enabling us to offer a contextualised programme which students enjoy while learning key skills.
Sir Mark Grundy, Executive Principal said:
‘When Kirsty returned from the Learning Without Frontiers conference in 2011, she persuaded me to watch the video of Iris Lapinski, saying that of all the people who had spoken, this lady had something special. Here was a special opportunity for our students, an opportunity that we could use to link a number of strands and an opportunity that could raise standards and levels of engagement. We talked at Senior Leadership Team about the “Apps for Good” opportunity and all could see the potential of this.’
Kirsty shared her experience of Apps for Good at Learning Without Frontiers in January in the Nominet Trust Digital Society Dome, please see her slides below:
If you are interested in your school becoming an Apps for Good Partner fill out the expression of interest form. Read more about Shirelands work on the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Blog.
Apps for Good Awards 2012 (AFGA2012)
Posted by admin on February 23rd, 2012
This year Apps for Good students from across the country will be taking part in our amazing Apps for Good Awards 2012 (AFGA2012). Through AFGA2012, student teams from over 40 UK schools will have the chance to win exclusive prizes from top technology sponsors such as Dell, Barclaycard, Thomson Reuters and the Nominet Trust. Over the coming weeks we will be announcing more sponsors. Winning entries will receive prizes including having their app built by one of the AFGA sponsors, tickets to top venues and a trip to the London finals to present in front of top industry experts in June 2012.
The 8 AFGA categories are:
- Learning - Helping others learn
- The Power to do More - Getting the most from your time
- Community - Bring people together
- Travel - Helping people get from A to B
- Money - Making the most of your money
- Information - Using information for good
- Health - Encouraging healthy and more sustainable lifestyles
- Play and Creativity - Games and positive play for social good
Entries can be submitted from March until the 30th of April 2012.
We would like to thank all our sponsors and partners for bringing AFGA 2012 to life.
Iris Lapinski – A New Radical
Posted by admin on February 20th, 2012
Annika Small, Director of the Nominet Trust, explains why she nominated Iris for the Observer New Radical campaign.
In the autumn of 2009, I was lucky enough to work with Rodrigo Baggio on a global education programme that I was developing. For those who aren’t familiar with him, Rodrigo is one of the world’s most respected social entrepreneurs with a passion for using technology as a tool for positive social change. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Digital Inclusion (CDI), the first non-profit organisation to tackle the digital divide in Latin America.
I remember the glint in Rodrigo’s eye when I asked him about his plans to bring CDI’s vision and ingenuity to Europe. ‘Just wait’, he said, ‘it’s going to be great.’ Shortly afterwards, he introduced me to Iris Lapinski and I knew that he was right: CDI Europe was going to be great.
There are three things that particularly strike you on meeting Iris. Firstly, she is a bold, imaginative and independent thinker. It would have been easy to import CDI’s approach to digital education but Iris knew instinctively that something different was needed for the European, and specifically British, context. Actually ‘instinctively’ isn’t quite right as in our first meeting, Iris shared with me her extensive research into the existing provision, the market needs and her gap analysis. This wasn’t someone who had a solution in search of a problem but a person committed to understanding how technology could address a specific social need.
The second thing that strikes you is Iris’ ability to keep her eyes on the horizon while her feet are firmly planted on the ground. When she showed me the outputs from the first Apps for Good workshop (www.appsforgood.org) , I went into overdrive. I wanted to get her in front of the Secretary of State, to find opportunities for her to present at head-teacher conferences across the country, to shout from the highest rooftop that here was a programme that could create huge opportunities for young people. Iris was adamant that Apps for Good needed to prove itself, to generate evidence that it made a positive difference. While innately confident in Apps for Good’s potential, Iris has a measured approach that underpins her commitment to achieving sustained and lasting positive change.
Thirdly, Iris exudes integrity and authenticity. I am lucky to have shared some of the Apps for Good journey and have seen times when there were opportunities to take a short-cut or to over-claim. There are huge pressures for social entrepreneurs to tell investors, promoters, prospective partners and clients what they want to hear. Iris recognised early on that Apps for Good would not succeed if it wasn’t rigorous; if it tried to underplay the commitment required by teachers, industry and young people; if it prioritised short-term gain over long-term impact.
Bold, imaginative, independent, measured and authentic are some of Iris’s many qualities. I nominated her as one of Britain’s New Radicals as it is exactly these attributes that we need in our society if we are to tackle some of the big social, economic and cultural challenges facing us today.
The full list of Britain’s New Radicals can be found here.