This week, as part of Computer Science Education Week, we are highlighting the personal side of Computer Science and STEM/STEAM. To do that, we’ve gathered some of Chicago’s best teachers in Computer Science to highlight the work that CS and STEM education does for our city.
The course I teach is IT Problem Solving — by the title, most people think is a mathematics course, but in reality, it’s an intense computer science course which we offer to 10th graders and upperclassmen at Lake View High School. I teach a variety of computer science topics throughout this course, but my favorite one of all is App Development. The words itself “App Development in High School” sound unrealistic or intimidating, but it is my second to last unit in IT Problem Solving.
I was first exposed to App Development and Web Designing when I went to university to obtain my bachelors degree in computer science. Now as I teach the same college concepts that I learned to my high school students, I am astonished on the level of comprehension they demonstrate at the end of the school year.
Before I teach App Development, my students are exposed to and have produced an Operating System, Database, Networking, and Javascript. Each one of these topics are a prerequisites to learn App Development. So why do I teach App Development? Teenagers are constantly on their phones, downloading music, playing games, or trying out any new and appealing app they can get for free. Who better than a teenager to determine if an App is valuable or not? For this particular reason, I feel that it’s important to teach them how to create an App, and understand the concepts in inventing one.
After my students take IT Problem Solving course, many join my school club Tech Crew or Girls Technovation. This is where I give them information about upcoming competitions, especially App Development ones. For the past two years, one of my club members have won 1st place in the IEEE Hackathon App Challenge. I am amazed and proud of my students work. Just to know that it started with curiosity, then an idea, followed by the skills learned in the course — the students at Lake View High School make App Development look easy.
Looking for more coding opportunities? Find more coding tools and resources for students, parents, and educators at microsoft.com/hourofcode.