New course immerses students into coding and app design

Everyday students go on their phone, scroll through their feed, take selfies with filters or walk around saying, “gotta catch ‘em all!” Yet, very rarely do students think about how the apps were made.

To immerse students into the world of technology, there is a class currently being piloted for app creating. IT Fundamentals is an introductory computer science class that focuses on app development. Students work with a program called “MIT App Inventor” so they can make apps while learning computer science terms.

“It is a good way to introduce them to these computer science principles,” said Information Technology instructor Sydney Kobza. “It also gives them more of a chance to be creative in design. It is not just the backend code; they are also designing apps as well. Also, it exposes them to a higher level of thinking about computers.”

This year the class consist of three students: junior Olivia Wing, junior Katie Monica, and senior Aaron Nelson. They were identified through CAPS, so they have already taken classes that involve computer science. Although there is interest in making IT Fundamentals an official class, there are many requirements to make it official.

“I spoke with the department at UNO, and in order for it to get AP credit, it must be a year long course because of the nature of the material being covered.  It is online, one day a week,” Kobza said.

The students in the program are all on-board. They mutually agree about the importance of knowing this side of technology. From using it in hospitals, to updating computer systems in restaurants: technology is one of the fastest growing areas today.

“Everything has technology now, everything. It’s relevant no matter what you do,” Monica said.

Administration will decide whether or not to continue this class for next year. IT Fundamentals would be a class for students who are not really interested in the media related classes like Digi Tools or Web Design, but who are interested in coding and app development.

“[IT Fundamentals is the] computer science way of thinking, and thinking about things more abstractly,” Kobza said. “Looking at something so simple and then seeing what really goes on behind it. [It’s] Problem solving with the technology.”