developing ipad apps for extension education

DEVELOPING IPAD APPS FOR EXTENSION EDUCATION

Sondra M. Parmer, PhD

Greg Parmer, MEd

Alabama Cooperative Extension System

WE B

EGAN WIT

H A

CURRICULU

M BODY

QUEST:

FOOD O

F TH

E W

ARRIOR

We

wan

ted th

e co

ncepts

of t

he iP

ad a

pps to

alig

n with

the

less

ons

for a

rese

arch

stu

dy.

GOALS

Reinforcement of Body Quest Curriculum Content• 6 lessons

Maintainability• security and app updates

Portability• creating MOBILE classrooms

Accessibility• limited internet connectivity

Likability• engage kids in technology

ORIGINAL PROPOSAL: NETBOOKS

300 Netbooks

24 Kyocera routers

24 Verizon AirCards

Flash Enabled Website

POSSIBILITY?

Released Spring 2010

Lightweight

Reduced Maintenance

But No Flash!

CAN WE MAKE IT HAPPEN?

Released Spring 2010

What we had:

Curriculum

Script Outline

What we thought we needed:

Developer

TWO PHD STUDENTS IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING AT AUBURN UNIVERSITY

STORYBOARDS HAD TO BE DEVELOPED FOR APP

TEAM EFFORT: NEEDED SHARED STORAGE

AFTER STORYBOARDS, FINDING VOICE TALENT WAS NEXT ON

THE LIST

ANIMATION OF ARTWORK

ALL THE PIECES WERE GATHERED TOGETHER SO THAT APP WRITING

COULD BEGIN• Animations with recorded dialogue

• Sound effects

• Music

• Game concepts

• Images

APP DEPLOYMENT

ONE APP PROTOTYPE DEVELOPED AND TESTED WITH KIDS

BASED ON PROTOTYPE, CHANGES WERE MADE

Since the original prototype, there have been:

•2,480 committed changes

•More than 70 versions of apps created

•And we are not done yet.

DISTRIBUTION OF UPDATES

Casper Suite from JAMF Software

Management (for BQ as well as other devices)

In-House App Distribution

Student device lockdown

TIMELINE

• TIME!

• Voice talent

• Student software engineers: limited time, limited skills

• TIME!

• Learning curve

• Comfort levels of educators

• TIME!

• Knowing when enough is enough

• Maintenance

• Cost (>$500,000)

• TIME – TIME – and more TIME !

CHALLENGES OF APP DEVELOPMENT

SUCCESSES OF APP DEVELOPMENT

• Extension educators, school teachers and school administration love it

• Doors opened for us in terms of academic time in public classrooms

• Team/Collaborative process

GOALS

Reinforcement of Body Quest Curriculum Content• 6 lessons = 6 Apps plus an Introductory App

Maintainability• security and app updates = Casper Suite (inventory too!)

Portability• creating MOBILE classrooms = 10 iPads/storage case (2 per

class)

Accessibility• limited internet connectivity = Updates/maintenance in office

Likability• engage kids in technology ==========>

KIDS LOVE IT!!!