Faculty-Led Course for Educators on Mobile Computing at MIT
Program to certify K-16 teachers and other professionals in mobile computing education
Cambridge, Mass. – October 19, 2015 – MIT Professional Education has announced the launch of its new course, MIT Master Trainers Program in Educational Mobile Computing, which will provide intensive training on app development, teaching techniques, troubleshooting, problem solving and computational thinking. This professional development program aims to nucleate a global community of experts who can conduct app development workshops in communities, schools and after-school programs, as well as act as resources for educators who teach computer science through mobile app design. Instruction will be based on creating applications for Android devices, using the App Inventor development environment. Faculty experienced in educational mobile computing, among them App Inventor creator, MIT Professor Hal Abelson, will engage participants from a variety of backgrounds.
“Mobile-computing is a fast-paced industry where kids are the earliest adopters of the latest technology,” said Hal Abelson, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. “This course allows for these same kids to grab hold of this exciting world through the development of applications that have the ability to change the way we think about smart devices.”
Identifying the need for skilled trainers in mobile applications, this program from MIT Professional Education is helping to make the ability to be the next star app developer available to students regardless of location or economic situation.
“As our world continues to become more mobile, the need for skilled app developers has become more important than ever,” said Bhaskar Pant, Executive Director of MIT Professional Education. “And we know that the current generation of kids is growing up with mobile devices and are very adept at handling them. This is why we are very excited to invest in and offer a course for the training of teachers who will in turn facilitate their students to produce potentially groundbreaking mobile applications of the future.”
About MIT Master Trainers Program in Educational Mobile Computing
Geared towards educators worldwide, course participants will become an elite group of experts able to promote computer science education and serve as a resource for those seeking to infuse mobile computing education into their organizations, programs, and classrooms.
Extensive online pre-work will prepare participants to take a deeper dive into mobile app development and teaching strategies during the 3-day in-person program at MIT. Topics covered include: technical set-up, computer science concepts, IT troubleshooting, debugging strategies, the design thinking process, pedagogy, problem solving, computational thinking, and creating trainings.
Participants will be certified as “Master Trainers” upon completion of the online training and on-campus program and their names will be added as Trainers to the MIT App Inventor website.
Enrollment is now open to qualifying U.S. and international professionals through the MIT Professional Education website.
About MIT Professional Education
For more than 65 years MIT Professional Education has been providing professionals who are engaged in engineering, science and technology worldwide a gateway to renowned MIT research, knowledge and expertise through advanced education programs designed specifically for working professionals. http://web.mit.edu/professional/
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Contact:
On Behalf of MIT Professional Education
Kelly Brosch
Matter Communications
978-838-5613
mitpe@matternow.com
