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 growth to college students
Apple’s Swift Pupil Problem has given 1000’s of scholars world wide the chance to showcase their creativity and construct real-world expertise to take into their careers and past. Since 2020, college students taking part within the problem have joined a worldwide neighborhood of builders utilizing Swift — the identical programming language utilized by professionals — to create the following wave of groundbreaking apps. The subsequent problem will open in February 2024, and can embrace a brand new class recognizing 50 Distinguished Winners, who will likely be named for standout submissions.
Curiosity amongst college students who want to be taught coding and app growth 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 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 discover ways to code and 94 p.c imagine coding is a crucial ability for the long run job market. As well as, college students acknowledge a number of advantages of understanding methods to code and construct apps, together with boosting creativity, fixing native and international issues, and finally making the world a greater place.
Consciousness of and entry to coding and app growth sources are essential for learners — whereas the survey discovered that 85 p.c of scholars haven’t but taken steps however wish to be taught 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 important device for novices to discover, be taught, uncover, and experiment with coding and app growth on iPad and Mac.
“At Apple, we imagine that everybody can be taught to code and construct apps, and we’re proud to help and acknowledge aspiring scholar builders with the Swift Pupil Problem every year,” mentioned Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice chairman of Worldwide Developer Relations and Training & Enterprise Advertising and marketing. “We all know that college students are desperate to be taught coding expertise to unravel challenges they care about — whether or not it’s constructing an app to assist friends determine psychological well being sources or supporting sustainability efforts on campus — and need to know methods to get began. Apple is releasing new coding sources for college students and educators, working with our neighborhood 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 growth to learners, Apple works with educators across the globe. To help educating Swift Playgrounds for educators, 4 new Everybody Can Code Initiatives present step-by-step sources to information college students in creating important expertise whereas creating apps that remedy 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 essential to create a secure area the place my college students could be heard,” mentioned 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 sources and Swift Playgrounds on iPad alongside her college students. One in every 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 gentle 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 Training Initiative, such because the Nationwide Coalition of Certification Facilities (NC3). NC3 supplies hands-on skilled growth alternatives to organize neighborhood 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 tasks 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 college with the abilities to information college students, fostering an setting the place curiosity is widely known, creativity is inspired, and each thought is given the chance to flourish.”
New Everybody Can Code Initiatives
Apple’s new Everybody Can Code Initiatives present step-by-step sources to assist educators information college students by means of each step of their coding and app growth journey, and develop important expertise whereas creating apps that remedy issues they care about.
Everybody Can Code Initiatives could 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 method to construct consumer interfaces with surprisingly little code — and use the most recent 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 Initiatives out there at the moment embrace:
- Design a Easy App: College students can create an app prototype in Keynote to be taught the basics of app design, observe speedy prototyping, and acquire 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 be taught the basics of consumer interface design.
- Construct Customized Shapes: College students can convey an app interface to the following degree by designing a form, studying 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 be taught and apply app design rules to create a singular and memorable app icon that communicates an thought; observe speedy prototyping; acquire suggestions; and add the icon to Swift Playgrounds to turn into a part of an app.
Everybody Can Code Initiatives with Swift Playgrounds make it simpler than ever to show and be taught coding, app design, and app growth on iPad and Mac — excellent for moments that commemorate coding expertise world wide this season, together with STEAM Day at the moment within the U.S., in addition to Laptop Science Training Week and Hour of Code in December, celebrated throughout 180 international locations and areas.
New sources for educating coding and app growth with Swift Playgrounds, together with 4 new Everybody Can Code Initiatives, are actually out there within the Apple Training Neighborhood, the place educators can discover sources for any ability degree, join with friends, and extra. Swift Playgrounds 4.4 is accessible now, and consists of help for Swift 5.9, and SDKs for iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma.
College students will likely be invited to submit their app playgrounds for the Swift Pupil 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 will likely 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 help from Apple.
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Jessica Reeves
Apple
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Apple
Apple Media Helpline
