Developing Apps for Good

Apps For Good

Building the next generation of problem-solvers and tech entrepreneurs

Our high school has become an education partner of award-winning education technology charity, Apps for Good, and will roll out its technology education programme, which enables young people from all year groups to design and build a problem-solving app, developing core 21^st century digital and business skills.

The Apps for Good course is free to deliver in schools and is revolutionising the way students learn about technology.  Students identify an everyday issue or problem they care about, and learn to build a mobile, social or web app to solve it. The students of Information and Communication Technology in 4th E.S.O. are the ones who are involved in this course.

Throughout the year-long programme, teachers tap into the Apps for Good Expert community of professional software developers, designers and entrepreneurs, who mentor the students and add a real world insight as the students develop their app ideas.

When explaining why he decided to introduce the programme, Javier Sanz, headmaster at IES Infante Don Fadrique enthused: “It was the regional center for teacher training (CFRP)  that first alerted us to Apps for Good. We did a little research and the more we did, the more we realised how many schools in the UK had already introduced the programme and had nothing but great things to say about it. I really like the fact that we will have access to the Apps for Good Experts throughout the course to help mentor the students, but also to give our teachers a deeper insight into the subject, fundamentally changing the way they think about teaching computing science.  And I love that our students will not only develop fantastic technology skills through the course, but they’ll also develop a transferable skill set that encompasses teamwork, problem-solving, creativity, entrepreneurship, marketing and design. It is a chance we could not miss” 

Debbie Forster, UK managing director of Apps for Good, is encouraging other schools to get involved. She said, “We are so pleased to be working with a forward-thinking and innovative school like IES Infante Don Fadrique undoubtedly, they share our mission of wanting to change technology education forever. Young people don’t just want to consume technology; they want to be makers and creators using technology. Our goal is to help young people be more able, self-confident, and collaborative, ready to make a difference to their world!” 

From August 2014, the Apps for Good course will be delivered to over 20,000 students across the UK, with more than 430 Education Partners across the UK, working with almost 800 Expert volunteers, and for the first time, it is intended to be used in Schools that offer a bilingual education abroad the UK. For more information or to find out how you can get involved, please visit www.appsforgood.org 

Apps for Good

Apps for Good is helping young people around the UK – and globally – to build their digital future. Launched in March 2010, as a pilot course in South London with just nine students, one educator, three experts and three apps, Apps for Good now delivers its technology education programme to over 20,000 students in more than 430 schools, colleges and informal learning centres across the UK. The Apps for Good movement is aimed at transforming teaching methods and creating a new global generation of confident digital makers, problem-solvers and technology entrepreneurs – who, in turn, are producing ingenious apps that can change people’s lives. 

In the 2014/2015 academic year, Apps for Good is working with over 430 schools who are delivering the course to more than 20,000 students across the UK, growing by 10,000 per cent since its launch in 2010. 

Apps for Good is also committed to developing long-term and mutually beneficial partnerships with companies and foundations who share their vision of improving technology education. Corporate partners and sponsors include technology leaders Google, Facebook, Nominet Trust, Thomson Reuters, Barclaycard and Samsung. 

About the Apps for Good Programme

Apps for Good trains educators in schools, colleges and youth and community centres to deliver its course to young people 10-18 years of age. 

The educators are supported by the Apps for Good Expert community of professional designers, developers and entrepreneurs, who volunteer their time to advise the students on their ideas.

Students work together as teams to find real-life issues they want to tackle and how best to solve them with mobile, social and web applications, thereby unlocking their talents, passions and skills.

The teams move from problem to prototype by working through the software product development process an entrepreneur would take – from feasibility research and deciding on business models to product design and marketing. For more information visit www.appsforgood.org.