Debbie Foster COO Apps for Good

Using Apps to transform students from tech consumers to digital creators Debbie Forster COO #appsforgood

Beat the Book Frustrated with studying books at school and embarrassed about failing English tests Helps encourage students to read by rewarding them with a game for reading and understanding the books set by their teacher Problem App solution

Promise Keeper Adults kept promising rewards and conveniently forgetting them! Lets young people, their parents and teachers agree and track a task, a timeline and a reward -- creating a mini-contract Problem App solution

RMBme Forgetting items for important meetings — and forgetting about important meetings Uses sounds, pictures and other customisable features to alert and remind users about anything Problem App solution

Apps for Good winners

Student-driven learning Technology Problem-solving Inspiring students- -our approach

So how do we do it? A ‘STEAMED’ course Crash course in app development A basic understanding of the app development process Idea generation A pipeline of potential app ideas Screening and scoping Practical research into market and tech feasibility Product development Build and test a prototype. Choose a business model Pitch and Competition Pull together all key artifacts into a pitch for a chance to win expert investment.

A fast growing movement Sept students 2 schools 3 educators 15 app ideas 5 experts Sept ,250 students 37 schools 100 educators 300 app ideas 100 experts Sept ,000 students 97 schools 250 educators 1,500 app ideas 200 experts Sept ,000 students 400 schools 800 educators 5,000 app ideas 400 experts 6,300 alumni Sept ,000 students 1,000 education partners 2,000 educators 12,500 app ideas 1,000 experts 26,300 alumni 10,000% growth so far and rising

Challenges & risks ahead Measuring what is valuable vs What’s easy to measure The danger of the next “magic bullet” Keeping teachers skilled & confident Opportunities & challenges in the new curriulum

Computing- the challenge is to create not just another kind of user/consumer

What makes us special—not the tech Students and alumni Corporate partners and funders Educators in schools 200+ expert volunteers

What makes our teachers special Fountain of knowledgeRock climbing coach Educator Team of students Expert(s) Educator Individual students

Broad impact on students... Improved tech and entrepreneurial skills  74% state significant effect on students’ teamwork skills  65% state significant effect on students’ communication skills  61% state significant effect on students’ ability to use technology/ ICT Improved confidence 65% say that students have significantly improved their confidence Clearer career interests  59% say that AfG has given the students greater clarity on their strengths and weaknesses … and teachers: 56% learned new relevant subject knowledge and skills * Based on our first 2011/12 full impact data report

What our teachers say The Apps for Good programme is a great way for our school to support the creativity of our students while also building their technical and problem solving skills. Emily Monk, Reading Girls’ School This programme is fantastic at bringing the relevance of IT to the forefront of the students’ imagination – it’s great to see more pupils enjoying learning and the buzz pupils had from speaking to real experts. Mike Rowley, Wordsley School This programme has greatly enhanced the reputation of our department and the staff. James Poulter, Sussex Downs College

+7% +15% Who we are reaching +24%

What are we learning? The challenge of staying STEAMED The key is still people not tools & toys Blessing & curse of BYOD, handhelds &free tools Hard is good...but hard is hard Coding & computing need context What students really value Where the real “wow” factor is

Our vision Create a global movement that will enable every young person around the world to use technology and business skills to build a better future for their generation

19 Thank you Find out more appsforgood.org Stay in