Teaching CS principles with app inventor

Mobile phone programming can provide an authentic and engaging hook into computer science. With App Inventor, developed by Google and recently moved to MIT, programming Android apps is as easy as clicking blocks together. App Inventor has been used successfully in after school programs, roadshows, summer camps, teacher workshops, and computer science classrooms from middle school through college. In this tutorial, participants will get an overview of App Inventor including project ideas and sample curriculum. In addition, the new CS Principles project will be introduced to participants, including a discussion of the Big Ideas and Learning Objectives that have been defined by the College Board and NSF. Specifically, the use of App Inventor as a platform for teaching CS Principles will be discussed with examples from an official Principles pilot effort within Alabama. A virtual panel with App Inventor experts will allow participants to interact and ask questions about the exciting opportunities available with App Inventor.