Reported by:
Chloe Soh Ke Er JR2Z(3)
On the 25th of June 2022, Kuen Cheng High School Academic Department organized a hands-on training programme on mobile application development, as a Saturday Independent Learning event, for Senior Middle Two and Junior Middle Two students. The main speaker for this workshop is Dr. See Kwee Teck while Mr. Peh Guan Soon provided support and assisted the students.
The aim of this workshop was to have students learn how to set up and build simple applications in MIT App Inventor. The workshop was held in the School’s Computer Lab A situated in Block C. Students were required to bring their own laptop, mobile phone, and USB cable to the workshop.
For a start, Dr. See introduced operating systems including Android, Apple, Tizen, and KaiOS. In rural areas, they mostly use Tizen and KaiOS to operate their mobile phones.
Next up, there were several programming languages like Javascript, CSS, and HTML. They are used in developing apps. Most developers use Java or Swift for app development. For non-programming tools, MIT App Inventor is a great software for creating apps. It does not need much computer functions to function. It is a cross-platform software for the general purpose which uses block programming which means it is easy to use and great for beginners.
Dr.See introducing MIT App Inventor
After some brief explanation and demonstration, the students jumped right into the workshop. They were given a template and a guide to complete the task, which is to develop an app to measure body mass index (BMI). With Dr. See and Mr. Peh’s help, students managed to develop the app smoothly.
Students hands-on
Last but not least, a Q&A session was held. The students’ questions were mainly focused on their academic progression of this special subject at TARUC later when finishing their SPM. There were also questions on what courses to decide if they are interested in app development. It was a fun-filled as well as fruitful day for all of the participants.
