socialrosiechen: App Inventor lets you build your own Android app (well, soon: it's in closed beta)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

App Inventor lets you build your own Android app (well, soon: it's in closed beta)

Filed under: Developer, Security, Education, Android

Aimed at educators and the unwashed masses, here comes the Android App Inventor. It's been in development for a year and testing has already been carried out on "sixth graders, high school girls and nursing students," and, according to the New York Times it has been a resounding success.

Just take a look at what Google has crafted! Read through the tutorials, or watch the video after the break. It's simple yet so functional. If you want to get in on the action, you need to sign up for the App Inventor for Android closed beta. You might have to lie about being an educator, though...

I think we might actually be seeing a resurgence in the teaching of programming and logical, syntactic thinking! First Microsoft Small Basic, and now this! There was even some talk of a HyperCard-esque development tool emerging on iOS, but the no-non-native-code license agreement would seemingly make that infeasible.

This might be an actual return to scientific trial-and-error education... how blissful that would be! No more frakkin' spoon feeding!

[via Technologizer]