App Development Link

For any of you that are looking for the link to the app builder, the link to the website is:

appinventor.mit.edu/

or you could find it by looking for MIT App Inventor in Google. It allows you to build Android apps for free. There are lots of video tutorials that will show you how it works and you can try out building an app whether you have an Android device or not.

You can test you app building by checking it out on the emulator on the website whcih will show you what it woudl look like on a phone.

Try it before our next session. As it is sponsored by Google, you can use your school emails to log in to the system.

Enjoy

John

Check whether your friends have received the blog invite!

Hi all,

Everyone should have received an invitation to the blog by now. Can you please check with your friends that they have received it? If not, then I don't have the correct email address for that person!

If they email me at julie.doyle@casala.ie I can send them the blog invitation.

Thanks!

Creating your Project Report

Hi everyone,

Each group has 2 tasks as part of this project:

1. Design and create an intergenerational application (for a tablet device or phone).
2. Create a project report that is basically a record of all the work you have done as part of the process of designing and creating the app. This will be a collaborative effort amongst your group - you will create a shared document on Google Drive and everyone in the group can work on the report.

This blog post highlights the structure your report should have. Before the next workshop in March, you should be able to have content for the first 6 sections of the report.

Please make it very visual by including photos etc. of any images you have drawn or sketched out.

The structure should be:

Section 1: Introduction

Provide the name of your group, the name of your app and it's primary purpose.

Section 2: Background research

Describe some of the research you did in the first and second workshops. How many app ideas did you come up with? How did you narrow this down to 3? What other similar apps in the area did you come across? How did you identify a gap in the app market?

Section 3: The App Users

Who are the main users of your app? How is it intergenerational? Make sure you highlight the benefit for both younger and older users alike.

Section 4: App Detail

Here you will have 3 'subsections'.

4.1 will describe the functionality of your application.

4.2 will describe the content of your application.

4.3 will describe the scenarios you created. Remember to put in pictures of all the excellent picture and characters you created.

Section 5: Information Architecture

Describe here the layout of your app - i.e. the 'tree-like' structure of it.

Section 6: Interface Design

Describe here your application's interfaces (as you sketched out on the iPad paper). It would be nice to have a photo of each interface along with a short description of what happens on each particular screen.

Section 7: Usability

Describe how you are ensuring your app is easy to use for both younger and older users. You can build on this section as we get further with the workshops and as you begin to test it out with real users.

Section8: Project Experiences

Here it would be good if each team member could write a couple of lines on their experience of taking part in the project. 

How to participate

1) We will add your email contacts to the authors' list

2) You will receive an email from blogger. Follow the instructions.

If you correctly complete all the steps, you will be able to post in this blog from this url: www.blogger.com

If you experience any issue, contact us at sandpit2012@gmail.com

Happy blogging! :)
_____________________________________

Here the instructions to join once you receive the email:
1) You will receive a email from Blogger. Click on the url


2) You'll visualise this page:

- if you already have a google account, log in as usual
- if you don't have any google account, click on 'Create your account now'


3) You'll visualise this page:

- insert your data (you don't need to input your mobile phone number)
- we suggest to uncheck the last option (about personalisation)
- click on 'Next Step'


4) You'll visualise a confirmation message:

- click on 'back to blogger'


5) Blogger will ask you what kind of profile you want:

- Pick the second one: Blogger Profile. Click on Create a limited Blogger Profile


6) Blogger will ask you your display name (the name that will appear when you will post something on the blog):

-Write your name and click on 'Continue to Blogger'


7) You are ready!

- If you see this interface, it means that you are in! Welcome! You can write your first post by clicking the orange button with the pensil icon in the top.


8) How does the post interface look like?
Like this:

- write what you want to say on the white sheet
- assign a title (in the top: in the white box between 'post' and 'publish'
- you can assign a label to your post (it is optional but strongly recommended). A label is a easy way to categorize your posts. We recommend to add your group name (you can add all the labels you think are relevant for your post)
- click on the button 'Publish' when you finish! :)

Welcome! How to use this blog

This blog needs your contribution!
The SANDPiT Project is a collaborative intergenerational project. Nine projects are going forward and it would be beneficial to exchange your ideas, your knowledge and your experiences with the other groups and between the members of each group.
The idea is to post your experiences and your advices for the other participants or any other thing you think it may be relevant for the projects. Remember to tag every post with the name of your group if you are speaking on the group's behalf. The blog is also a direct channel to communicate  with the Dkit tutors.

You can start by introducing your group and quickly introduce your project.