App Lab is a programming environment to create simple apps using blocks or JavaScript. It was created for use in the High School Computer Science Principles course but can be used outside of that course as well.
EXPLORATION:
This is the time to create your first simple app so that you can get to know a bit about how App Lab works. Very often in a Computer Science course, the very first thing you will be asked to create is a "Hello, World!" program. That's what you are going to do here but in this case it's going to be an interactive hello from an animal of your choice or from you. You can see an example app with an animal here. If you "pet" the kitten by clicking on it or tapping the screen if you are on a mobile device, the cat will say "hello" or meow, in this case. You can see another example with a human avatar here. In this example, if you click on the avatar, you will hear a greeting. In this app, there is also a button you can click that will take you to a 2nd screen with more information; clicking anywhere on the 2nd screen will take you back to the 1st screen.
Before you start creating your app, you will need:
Now, it's time to create your Hello, World app! Go to the provided Code.org section and:
Once you are done, share your app to your phone or email the link to yourself so you have it and can remix it on your own account once you set one up.
Done? Add the link to your app and/or some thoughts on what you think about App Lab so far on the Wizard Training Padlet.
ACCOUNT SETUP:
You may continue to use the provided Code.org account but you may want to take a few minutes and set up your own account. Once you have a teacher account, you can visit the Teacher Home Page and set up sections for your various classes.
INTEGRATION IDEAS:
Now it's time to start thinking about using this with students. Choose one or more of the options below.
Remix:
Remixing is a great way to learn how something works and then change it to do what you want it to do.
Did you create something awesome? Share a link to it on the Wizard Training Padlet.
CSP Unit 3:
As part of the year-long Computer Science Principles course, Unit 3 introduces the basic concepts of computer programming using JavaScript as the programming language, and App Lab as the programming environment to build apps. This unit includes teacher lesson plans, unplugged lessons, online guided lessons, quizzes, and more. This unit could be used in whole or in part to get students familiar with App Lab and JavaScript.
Add your thoughts and/or a screenshot of something you completed in the unit to the Wizard Training Padlet.
Algebra:
If you are a Middle/High School Algebra teacher, you might be interested in:
Add your thoughts and/or something you completed to the Wizard Training Padlet.