Unit 1

Overview: In this first unit, you will learn the basics of mobile app development and how to use App Inventor. You will build two apps:

1. "I Have a Dream": plays speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X

2. Soundboard: your first creative app that plays sounds of any kind

Learning Objectives: In this unit, you will learn to:

• design an app’s user interface using the Designer and program its behavior using the Blocks Editor

• pair program to build apps with media (images and sound)

• use event handlers to specify how an app responds to different events

• use conditional statements to enable an app to respond differently in different conditions

• acquire and manipulate media responsibly

• test and deploy apps to a mobile device

• create an electronic portfolio and add first app and reflection

Computer Science Concepts:

• events and event handlers

• conditional statements

• user interface

• digital citizenship: responsible use of media

• pair programming

• algorithms

App Inventor Concepts & Components:

• App Inventor interface:

  • Designer

  • Blocks Editor

• live development & testing with AI Companion

• design properties (e.g., background color)

• components:

  • label

  • image

  • button

  • sound player

  • text to speech

  • layout: horizontal/vertical arrangement