Parkwood High students use mobile apps to bridge European history and technology
This school year , several classes at Parkwood Middle and High schools are piloting MAD-learn , a web-based curriculum program that teaches mobile app development . The program allows students to learn and execute the fundamentals of mobile apps , including ideation , planning , design , creation , development , marketing , launch and maintenance .
If you ’ re looking for Parkwood High ’ s Advanced Placement European History class , you won ’ t find the students sitting at their desks in a classroom .
Instead , the entire class is in the media center , hunched over computers as they design , code and create their own mobile app for a class project .
“ I ’ m taking history , a subject that students may not necessarily enjoy , and I ’ m combining it with something they use all the time and know how to navigate ,” said Parkwood High teacher Vinson Covington . “ They ’ re still learning and they ’ re also getting themselves ready for something that they ’ ll be exposed to in college .”
This school year , several classes at Parkwood Middle and High schools are piloting MAD-learn , a web-based curriculum program that teaches mobile app development . The program allows students to learn and execute the fundamentals of mobile apps , including ideation , planning , design , creation , development , marketing , launch and maintenance .
In Vinson ’ s class , the students were given the task of promoting a “ movie ” about a historical event in modern European history . After researching and selecting a historical event , the students are using the app to create pages that feature their plot summaries , commercials and more .
Vinson said his goal is for students to know how to create an
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app so they ’ ll enter college having some background knowledge of computer programming .
“ The app is a different platform to share different information with each other . Instead of doing a basic PowerPoint , this is a little bit more advanced ,” he said , adding that in the past he had students create a movie poster when working on this project . “ They ’ re gathering historical information and putting it in a platform that is friendly , easy to use and exciting to them .”
Senior Lauren Kooistra said she was initially a bit nervous when she learned they ’ d be working on a mobile app this semester .
“ I thought it was going to be really difficult because it seemed like there would be a lot of details that I wouldn ’ t be able to do ,” she said . “ But it ’ s actually a lot easier than I thought and it makes you think about things from different perspectives .”
Although Vinson ’ s class is part of the pilot program , he expects the mobile app program to be rolled out in additional classes throughout the high school in the future . And once students are familiar with the platform , they will be able to create their own apps for Parkwood High and sell them in an app store with the approval of a teacher or school administrator .
“ It ’ s important to remember that we ’ re not doing this just to be using technology ,” he said . “ The students are actually creating something that is going to be useful , and they ’ ll be able to go home and use this in the future . They ’ re learning this in class , but they ’ ll be able to apply it to anything you can think of .”
— This article was provided by the Union County Public Schools Communications Office .