The story so far: Teaching Mobile App Development at PG level at Londonmet

Transcription

1 The story so far: Teaching Mobile App Development at PG level at Londonmet Dr. Yanguo Jing Principal Lecturer in Computing University Teaching Fellow Faculty of Computing, London Metropolitan University

2 Content Why teach mobile app development? What needs to be taught? Our approach in teaching and learning programming for mobile devices. Outcomes Reflection HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 2

3 Why teach mobile app development? HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 3

4 Smartphone Usage Statistics 80% of humans own a mobile phone. Out of the 5 billion mobile phones in the world, 1.08 billion are smartphones. Android has the highest market share with 46.9% the iphone has 28.7%, RIM 16.6%, Windows mobile 5.2%, Symbian 1.5%. 9 out of 10 smartphone users use their phone on a daily basis. The most popular smartphone activity is texting, followed by internet browsing and playing games. People between the ages of 25 and 34 are more likely to own a smartphone (62%) than any other age group. Source: HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 4

5 ios Statistic Update On March 5, 2012, Apple announced that more than 25 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store by the users of the more than 315 million iphone, ipad and ipod touch devices worldwide. On March 19, 2012, Apple announced it has sold three million of its new ipad since its launch on March 16, Source: HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 5

6 Mary Meeker from Morgan Stanley predicted that mobile internet will overtake fixed internet by Source: HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 6

7 Job Trend and Student Employment Source: HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 7

8 We need to introduce mobile app development in our course portfolio. What needs to be taught and how to teach? HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 8

9 Our approaches Industry-oriented approach. Employability. Research and knowledge transfer activities feed into teaching. Select one main mobile platform taught in one module. Use highly hand-on approach (teaching & assessment), but with appropriate Master level research, analytical and reflective training. HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 9

10 Mobile platforms? ios Android RIM Windows Mobile Symbian? PhoneGap? J2ME? Choose one main platform for one module. Ideally cover two platforms. HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 10

11 Content to cover Programming Language & OOP The mobile platform IDE (coding, debugging, performance tuning) Model View Controller design pattern Development methods UI Power management Memory management Integration with other Web Services and 3 rd party tools (JSON, Twitter, Facebook) Persistent storage (local DB, XML, file, sockets) Killer features (Mapkit, OpenGL, Location, Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Game Engine, Camera, Cloud, Bonjour, NFC, QR Code reader) HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 11

12 A case study of a PG mobile module at Londonmet HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 12

13 Module: Mobile Applications Development Credit: 20 Contact time: 2 hours lecture in lab + 2 hours workshop per week for 12 weeks, and assessment in week 13. Total study hours: 200 Since 2007 HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 13

14 Week Topic Weekly Teaching Schedule 1 Introduction to the module ios platform Introduction to XCode and Objective-C I 2 The Cocoa Touch Framework MVC Introduction to Objective-C II 3 Memory Management, Object Initialisation and Properties, Properties & Protocols UI Components I 4 UI Components II (Web View, MapView, Core location, and Accelerometer) 5 Research week: HCI design principals for Mobile Devices ios User Interface design guide Native apps vs. PhoneGap 6 Exception Handling in Objective-C Navigation (Navigation Controller, Tab Controller, TableView Controller) Interim Presentation (students should have an app idea by now) and feedback week. 7 Persistent storage I (Files, Key-Value and XML parser, SQLite) 8 Persistent storage II (Core Data) 9 Notification Integration with Web resources (JSON, Web services) 10 Reading week 11 Game Engine for ios Finalising your Application for Release 12 Student Prepared Seminars (e.g. Bonior, game engine) Alternative mobile platforms and tools Android/Windows Mobile/Blackberry/PhoneGap Feedback week 13 Coursework submission Student Presentation and App demo Selected Apps to be displayed in the Annual Computing Show HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 14

15 The VLE environment for the module HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 15

16 Week 1 Lecture on Introduction to ios platform and Objective C. Reading Task: Textbook chapter 1, 2, 3 on Ray s book; Introduction to Apple Dev Portal Workshop exercise: Tutor demo: XCode, helloworld app, a simple calculator app. Setup access to the iphone Developer Portal Tasks: to build the calculator following the video screencast and enhance the calculator. HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 16

17 Week 2 Lecture on Cocoa Touch Framework, MVC programming paradigm. Reading Task: Chapter 4 and 5 on Ray s book, Web link on Apple Dev Portal Other task: Look for a topic for the app and the research topic Workshop exercise: Students register their IOS devices, obtain developer certificate, provisional profile. Tutor demo: a simple MVC app. Tasks: to run app on their devices. HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 17

18 Traditional Textbooks? HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 18

19 ios Dev Centre Software Sample Code Videos Technical documentation Add students to the developer portal Source: HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 19

20 On-line resources Screencast videos for lab demo youtube videos ituneu Google the answer! Module blog HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 20

21 Create screencast videos for students HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 21

22 Set up tes9ng environment for students Source: HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 22

23 Industry Input Academy programmes: Microsoft IT Academy, Symbian Academy, Apple University Developer Programme, and Oracle Academy. Industry friends and alumni. Industry liaison group provides critiques on course curriculum and module syllabus design. Guest lectures from industry Invite professionals from the mobile industry Monthly Student Enterprise Workshops In-house World of Work agency Employ students to do paid commercial projects commissioned by the industry partners.

24 Industry Input Cont. Student s industry involvement Conferences like DroidCon Join local special interest groups (London Android group, iphone group) Industry exhibitions, like AppsWorld. Professional App design competition - Hackathon Commercial projects Students apply for industry investment/funding bid

25 Learning Experience Attendance Peer-to-Peer support Guide students to identify materials to study, contribute towards PDP Students prepare short seminars on a chosen topic. Keep in the right track - weekly feedback from tutor. HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 25

26 Assessment Practical tasks develop an app. Demo & Presentation Essay type of research paper to demonstrate MSc level critical thinking. HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 26

27 Assessment took place in May 2012 HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 27

28 Student work Showcase HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 28

29 Feedback from students: Things you would like to change about this module? HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 29

30 "one academic year instead of 6 months Mac availability outside of the lecture time (library ) The only thing that I would like to change is the duration of the module, I think it would be better to have it in both semesters as there are many things to learn and the time is limited. Other related tasks like source control, testing need to be covered. These are basics which any job will require. HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 30

31 What do you like about this module? HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 31

32 Contents covered. Facilities of the material provided (such as examples and videos ) The support received by Dr. Yanguo Jing helping us to set the proper licenses and the other environments needed to the application development as well as the explanations and the resources provided. Great intro into ios Very practical with lots of examples Freedom to develop any application for the coursework. The possibility to develop a fully functional application by myself. The knowledge I have got is very good, and will help me a lot in my country and will increase my employment opportunities. The lecturer is very helpfully, any time you have a problem is willingly to help The way our lecturer bring other professionals to teach us about some subject, this really motivates us and also the way we can go for competition with other programmers, opens the door for employment opportunities. Up to date Stimulating Team working feeling HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 32

33 Challenges IT support Extra support for weak programming students Staff development. HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 33

34 Outcomes

35 Student Achievements Employment UBS, Lovefilm, Masabi, Novada,Cal2Cal ltd, Red Button Technology, etc. PhD study Start-up business via venture capital investment ( 50K) Excellent student work Professional competition winners (Hacathon) Student funding bid success HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 35

36 Students Won the Create London NFC Hackathon Competition in 2012 HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 36

37 50K Investment fund for students business idea HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 37

38 Student Won a Funding Bid in the The World of Difference UK Programme Sponsored by Vodafone HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 38

39 A snap survey was carried out in May Target: Current MSc students and graduates in 2011 HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 39

40 Benefits for Staff Knowledge Connect/Knowledge transfer projects PhD research student Publications Enjoyment! HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 40

41 A Mobile Health Proactive Anti-obesity System (mpas) HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 41

42 An Interactive On-line Video Streaming System for Company A Company s Web Server Linked to User account management and payment system Accessed by APIs Mobile devices External hosted CMS for the Interactive Training Videos Conventional Computers

43 iphone app for booking classical musicians Create a music event Add musician needs Send invitations to musicians Musicians confirm or reject the invites Fixers/Musicians check the Musician s booking history HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 43

44 The way ahead The use of PG students in teaching Student laptops University provide space + WIFI + Power Socket Learning on the move, the use of mobile/tablet devices (ibook, learning objects) to support their learning Social learning (peer-to-peer support, tutor support, team working) on Blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Learning on mobile/tablet devices (ibook, mobile VLE.) Integrate professional accreditation to curriculum. HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 44

45 Thank You! HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 45

46 The way ahead in the HE community A special interest group HE Mobile Education Group Special issue on Italics Another workshop next year. HEA Mobile Workshop Londonmet 46