for Boise State's Ed. Tech. Master's program
Archive for November, 2011
Week 13: Final Project…Blocks Editor Week
5 months ago
by Heather Braum
in General
This week we continued work on our final project, using the blocks editor. For me, this was the realization that my app is extremely complicated — more complicated than I’d realized. I’m simulating LOTS of different screens switching in and out, and programming the navigation buttons alone took several hours because of all the components involved. I am striving forward, though, and will have this app done in its originally planned design.
I did get excited when I was able to complete one part of the app, using my textbook and the web to figure out how to use the list picker and urls and the activity starter. Here’s an image of that section so far:
I am running into even more frustrations with the app inventor interface — especially the blocks editor. It’s too small, and it’s clunkily formatted for scrolling and moving blocks components around. I also wish it had copy and paste or duplicate functions. That would make some of the coding easier.
With that said, I am excited to see the work of this semester coming together in all the different components of my app design. I understand so much more about logic and programming than I did before, and even if I never program another app after this semester, I’ll be able to use what I’ve learned here in web design and SQL statement writing, and maybe even tackle new programming endeavors, including Stanford’s free iOS 5 course.
Week 12: Final Project Reflection Two
6 months ago
by Heather Braum
in General
This week I began designing the app for the final project that was proposed last week. I am designing an app that will allow librarians to learn about the CREW weeding method through a brief lesson, take a quiz on the lesson, quickly access the weeding criteria for various sections of the library that are in the method, and access further resources on the web about weeding in the library. It sounds like a very complicated application, but I have every confidence that all these components will be successfully added and accessible. This could be a very powerful tool in the hands of many librarians.
Because this is a complicated app, the current display of the app is quite messy (as you can see at the right). I haven’t started using the blocks editor to “hide” various content to simulate different screens, so the app current looks like this. Also, much of the content will be called from lists within the blocks editor, so there isn’t much displaying at this time in the components editor.
I am pleased, however, at the progress it has made. The fun — and complicated — part begins this next week with the blocks editor components.
One component that I would like to add to this app, but I think is too complicated for this first design (and probably not available in the app inventor interface, anyway) is the addition of a barcode scanner AND a way to connect to a local library’s catalog to search for materials. I’ve seen this done in other library-related applications that have been released lately. That would be a nice addition to this app. Definitely would like to add this feature in the future!
Week 11 Reflection: Final Project Week One
6 months ago
by Heather Braum
in General
I am excited about what I have put together in a proposal for the final project for this class. Weeding in libraries is something that is difficult to teach and get people to do; there is a great weeding manual available for free online, but it is lengthy and not always easily accessible while you are weeding in the stacks. Having a mobile app to learn about the method, and also quickly access the weeding criteria for different library sections would be quite useful. I am looking forward to bringing together lots of things we’ve learned over the course of this class to build this app. It’s going to be complicated, but will be practical and useful. If I succeed in building it, I hope to provide access to it for other librarians.
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