November 8, 2023
UPDATE
Apple’s Swift Pupil Problem to open in February 2024 with new Distinguished Winners class
Introducing new Everybody Can Code sources to help educators in bringing app design and improvement to college students
Apple’s Swift Student Challenge has given hundreds of scholars around the globe the chance to showcase their creativity and construct real-world expertise to take into their careers and past. Since 2020, college students collaborating within the problem have joined a worldwide group of builders utilizing Swift — the identical programming language utilized by professionals — to create the subsequent wave of groundbreaking apps. The subsequent problem will open in February 2024, and can embody a brand new class recognizing 50 Distinguished Winners, who will probably be named for standout submissions.
Curiosity amongst college students who want to study coding and app improvement is widespread, and these expertise are seen as extremely fascinating, whether or not college students intend to work within the expertise sector or not. In an independent survey of greater than 1,000 college students in america in September, researchers from YPulse discovered that 92 p.c of scholars imagine it is very important learn to code and 94 p.c imagine coding is a vital talent for the longer term job market. As well as, college students acknowledge a number of advantages of understanding find out how to code and construct apps, together with boosting creativity, fixing native and world issues, and finally making the world a greater place.
Consciousness of and entry to coding and app improvement sources are essential for learners — whereas the survey discovered that 85 p.c of scholars haven’t but taken steps however wish to study to code, 48 p.c don’t know the place to start out. Apple’s Swift Playgrounds app was designed to take learners from their first line of code to constructing their first app in Swift. It’s an incredible software for newbies to discover, study, uncover, and experiment with coding and app improvement on iPad and Mac.
“At Apple, we imagine that everybody can study to code and construct apps, and we’re proud to help and acknowledge aspiring pupil builders with the Swift Pupil Problem every year,” mentioned Susan Prescott, Apple’s vp of Worldwide Developer Relations and Schooling & Enterprise Advertising. “We all know that college students are desirous to study coding expertise to resolve challenges they care about — whether or not it’s constructing an app to assist friends establish psychological well being sources or supporting sustainability efforts on campus — and wish to know find out how to get began. Apple is releasing new coding sources for college students and educators, working with our group companions on devoted Swift programming, and sharing advance discover of the Swift Pupil Problem timeline for 2024. We will’t wait to see the app playgrounds college students submit subsequent 12 months.”
To assist convey app improvement to learners, Apple works with educators across the globe. To help instructing Swift Playgrounds for educators, 4 new Everybody Can Code Tasks present step-by-step sources to information college students in creating important expertise whereas creating apps that clear up issues they care about.
Tina Lewis is a seventh grade life sciences instructor with Montgomery Public Faculties in Alabama, an Apple Studying Coach, and a brand new Apple Distinguished Educator from the category of 2023. She additionally runs a coding membership at Brewbaker Center College. “As a instructor, it’s necessary to create a secure house the place my college students will be heard,” mentioned Lewis. “With coding, you may create that house actually, whereas sparking college students’ curiosity and constructing resilience within the face of failure.”
Lewis taught herself to code in 2021 utilizing the Everybody Can Code educator sources and Swift Playgrounds on iPad alongside her college students. Considered one of her college students went on to take part within the Swift Pupil Problem in 2022. “I’m motivated by my college students’ creativity and being the kind of instructor that may activate that mild for my youngsters,” mentioned Lewis.
Along with working with educators worldwide, Apple helps learners in 99 international locations and areas by means of its Neighborhood Schooling Initiative, such because the Nationwide Coalition of Certification Facilities (NC3). NC3 offers hands-on skilled improvement alternatives to organize group and technical faculty and highschool instructors to show App Growth with Swift. This 12 months, the group is committing to serving to extra college students than ever submit their app initiatives for the Swift Pupil Problem in 2024.
“The Swift Pupil Problem is a stepping stone for younger expertise, and we’re constructing a pathway for his or her success,” mentioned Roger Tadajewski, NC3’s govt director. “App Growth with Swift coaching equips school with the talents to information college students, fostering an setting the place curiosity is widely known, creativity is inspired, and each concept is given the chance to flourish.”
New Everybody Can Code Tasks
Apple’s new Everybody Can Code Tasks present step-by-step sources to assist educators information college students by means of each step of their coding and app improvement journey, and develop important expertise whereas creating apps that clear up issues they care about.
Everybody Can Code Tasks will be built-in into any topic space, and are good for the classroom or coding golf equipment. They introduce college students to SwiftUI — the trendy strategy to construct consumer interfaces with surprisingly little code — and use the newest app-building applied sciences in Swift Playgrounds. As they code, college students can see how their app modifications in actual time with App Preview.
4 new Tasks obtainable immediately embody:
- Design a Easy App: College students can create an app prototype in Keynote to study the basics of app design, apply speedy prototyping, and accumulate suggestions, following the identical steps as skilled builders.
- Construct with Stacks and Shapes: College students can take the primary steps of constructing an app in Swift Playgrounds and code a self-portrait or a murals utilizing SwiftUI to study the basics of consumer interface design.
- Construct Customized Shapes: College students can convey an app interface to the subsequent degree by designing a form, studying find out how to plot the coordinates, and coding their customized form utilizing SwiftUI and the About Me pattern app inside Swift Playgrounds.
- Design an App Icon: College students can study and apply app design ideas to create a singular and memorable app icon that communicates an concept; apply speedy prototyping; accumulate suggestions; and add the icon to Swift Playgrounds to develop into a part of an app.
Everybody Can Code Tasks with Swift Playgrounds make it simpler than ever to show and study coding, app design, and app improvement on iPad and Mac — good for moments that remember coding expertise around the globe this season, together with STEAM Day immediately within the U.S., in addition to Laptop Science Schooling Week and Hour of Code in December, celebrated throughout 180 international locations and areas.
New sources for instructing coding and app improvement with Swift Playgrounds, together with 4 new Everybody Can Code Tasks, are actually obtainable within the Apple Education Community, the place educators can discover sources for any talent degree, join with friends, and extra. Swift Playgrounds 4.4 is accessible now, and contains help for Swift 5.9, and SDKs for iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma.
College students will probably be invited to submit their app playgrounds for the Swift Pupil Problem throughout a three-week window in February 2024. Join at developer.apple.com to be notified when the problem is open. Out of 350 total winners, 50 Distinguished Winners will probably be invited to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, subsequent summer season, the place they’ll have the chance to attach with one another and the Apple workforce. All winners will obtain a one-year membership into the Apple Developer Program, which permits them to submit apps to the App Retailer and obtain help from Apple.
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Apple
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Apple
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