Apps for Good Train the Trainer Course

Today my colleague Pam and I attended the first day of the Apps for Good Train the Trainer course. We are here to learn how to teach the course to pupils from September. Wildern currently run it as an after school extra-curricular course that pupils were invited to join from Year 8. Even though this was our first year as a school running the programme, we managed to get 2 out of our 3 groups (Smart Revise and MApp Your Way) in to next week's final in London. Not bad for a first attempt!

Aims
My main aim of coming on the course was to see how I could link business in. Having gone through the course overview today I found that there is quite a lot of Business already part of the course: 

• The aim of the project is to find a solution to a problem, something we promote in business through entrepreneurship.
• Pupils have to carry out market research and create a user profile for their problem/app idea.
• Pupils have to create a Business Canvas model -Taking in to account the Solution, Complications, Question & Answer.
• Pupils have to use a 5 step development model as shown in the diagram below.

                             

We had, within the business department, considered integrating this in to our Year 9 foundation year but after seeing the time needed for the course, do not think this will be possible. Another of my aims, however, is to get more Business pupils involved and if possible to set up a competition between myself with some Biz kids and Pam with some IT kids just to add a bit more competitiveness to the course. (Not that they'll need it!)

Fame at last

During our lunch break, Pam and I were approached and asked to be interviewed for a film to be shown at the finals. Mass hair and make-up panic ensued but we agreed and shall appear (if we're not edited out for giggling too much) in the video in next week's final. We, of course, made sure to mention Wildern in every other sentence but failed miserably in mentioning Sharon who led the course to success this year! However, Debbie the COO of Apps for Good did that for us, thank goodness.