November 8, 2023
UPDATE
Apple’s Swift Scholar Problem to open in February 2024 with new Distinguished Winners class
Introducing new Everybody Can Code assets to assist educators in bringing app design and growth to college students
Apple’s Swift Scholar Problem has given 1000’s of scholars around the globe the chance to showcase their creativity and construct real-world abilities to take into their careers and past. Since 2020, college students collaborating within the problem have joined a worldwide neighborhood 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 embrace a brand new class recognizing 50 Distinguished Winners, who can be named for standout submissions.
Curiosity amongst college students who want to study coding and app growth is widespread, and these abilities are seen as extremely fascinating, whether or not college students intend to work within the know-how sector or not. In an impartial 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 ability for the long run job market. As well as, college students acknowledge a number of advantages of understanding easy methods to code and construct apps, together with boosting creativity, fixing native and world issues, and in the end making the world a greater place.
Consciousness of and entry to coding and app growth assets 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 begin. 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 ideal software for novices to discover, study, uncover, and experiment with coding and app growth on iPad and Mac.
“At Apple, we imagine that everybody can study to code and construct apps, and we’re proud to assist and acknowledge aspiring scholar builders with the Swift Scholar Problem every year,” stated Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice chairman of Worldwide Developer Relations and Schooling & Enterprise Advertising and marketing. “We all know that college students are desirous to study coding abilities to resolve challenges they care about — whether or not it’s constructing an app to assist friends establish psychological well being assets or supporting sustainability efforts on campus — and wish to know easy methods to get began. Apple is releasing new coding assets for college kids and educators, working with our neighborhood companions on devoted Swift programming, and sharing advance discover of the Swift Scholar Problem timeline for 2024. We will’t wait to see the app playgrounds college students submit subsequent yr.”
To assist deliver app growth to learners, Apple works with educators across the globe. To assist instructing Swift Playgrounds for educators, 4 new Everybody Can Code Tasks present step-by-step assets to information college students in growing important abilities whereas creating apps that resolve issues they care about.
Tina Lewis is a seventh grade life sciences trainer 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 trainer, it’s vital to create a secure area the place my college students will be heard,” stated Lewis. “With coding, you’ll be able to create that area 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 assets and Swift Playgrounds on iPad alongside her college students. One in every of her college students went on to take part within the Swift Scholar Problem in 2022. “I’m motivated by my college students’ creativity and being the kind of trainer that may activate that gentle for my youngsters,” stated Lewis.
Along with working with educators worldwide, Apple helps learners in 99 nations and areas by way of its Group Schooling Initiative, such because the Nationwide Coalition of Certification Facilities (NC3). NC3 gives hands-on skilled growth alternatives to arrange neighborhood and technical school and highschool instructors to show App Growth with Swift. This yr, the group is committing to serving to extra college students than ever submit their app tasks for the Swift Scholar Problem in 2024.
“The Swift Scholar Problem is a stepping stone for younger expertise, and we’re constructing a pathway for his or her success,” stated Roger Tadajewski, NC3’s government director. “App Growth with Swift coaching equips college with the abilities to information college students, fostering an atmosphere 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 assets to assist educators information college students by way of each step of their coding and app growth journey, and develop important abilities whereas creating apps that resolve issues they care about.
Everybody Can Code Tasks will be built-in into any topic space, and are excellent for the classroom or coding golf equipment. They introduce college students to SwiftUI — the fashionable strategy to construct person 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 adjustments in actual time with App Preview.
4 new Tasks accessible right this moment embrace:
- Design a Easy App: College students can create an app prototype in Keynote to study the basics of app design, observe fast prototyping, and gather 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 person interface design.
- Construct Customized Shapes: College students can deliver an app interface to the subsequent degree by designing a form, studying easy methods 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 novel and memorable app icon that communicates an concept; observe fast prototyping; gather 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 growth on iPad and Mac — excellent for moments that commemorate coding abilities around the globe this season, together with STEAM Day right this moment within the U.S., in addition to Laptop Science Schooling Week and Hour of Code in December, celebrated throughout 180 nations and areas.
New assets for instructing coding and app growth with Swift Playgrounds, together with 4 new Everybody Can Code Tasks, are actually accessible within the Apple Schooling Group, the place educators can discover assets for any ability degree, join with friends, and extra. Swift Playgrounds 4.4 is on the market now, and consists of assist for Swift 5.9, and SDKs for iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma.
College students can be invited to submit their app playgrounds for the Swift Scholar Problem throughout a three-week window in February 2024. Enroll at developer.apple.com to be notified when the problem is open. Out of 350 total winners, 50 Distinguished Winners can 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 allows them to submit apps to the App Retailer and obtain assist from Apple.
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Apple
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Apple
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