{"id":9227,"date":"2023-01-17T14:39:46","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T09:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/?p=9227"},"modified":"2023-01-17T15:24:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T09:54:00","slug":"mad-news-for-january-new-year-new-mad-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/mad-news-for-january-new-year-new-mad-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"MAD-news for January: New Year, New MAD-learn!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Guest,<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n
Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful holiday break and are now back in full force and ready for the new year. I had the opportunity to visit my family in India and see Mumbai (where I spent 10 years of my adolescence) from my husband’s eyes as a first-time visitor to the country and the city. It was powerful, to say the least.
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As we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I am reminded of his close relationship with Mahatma Gandhi, a mentor from halfway around the world. Today, even more than 65 years ago, cross-cultural ties and lessons can help us unite and build a stronger foundation for tomorrow. We experience this every day with our global team (with today’s temperatures in our cities being 20F, 27F, 40F, and 86F, for example).\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Who is one person in your life that is vastly different from you that you can talk to and learn more about?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Alefiya Master<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
Founder & CEO<\/span><\/div>\n
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With each new season, we shed the old and make room for new growth. MAD-learn is turning over a new leaf to kick off 2023 with a completely revamped platform. Our new product includes innovative features such as a dashboard that allows users to find essential information in one place, autosave to eliminate the nagging fear of lost work, customized avatars to add whimsy to the experience, and a progress tracker to help students determine if their app could earn a badge or be reviewed for potential publication. Login here to check it out!<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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We have also streamlined our app-building process and eliminated the need for an app shell. Users can now jump directly into any phase of the design thinking process and all work is saved automatically. Want to create a mind map, but aren\u2019t quite ready for the design phase? No problem. Now, students can focus on each step in isolation and enjoy customizable design features to boot.\u00a0<\/span>The new platform also includes an old favorite: video and slide deck tutorials.<\/p>\n

Our new year\u2019s resolution is to show you everything our MAD-learn makeover has to offer! If you would like a tour or want to learn more about our redesigned product, feel free to reach out to success@mad-learn.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n
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The cheers, excitement, and cake have been flowing at MAD-learn!\u00a0 In addition to launching a brand new product this month, we also celebrate our 9th birthday as a company.\u00a0 Alefiya Master, founder, and CEO created MAD-learn when she realized students\u2019 voices were missing from apps about their schools.\u00a0 That realization sparked an idea and MAD-learn (which stands for mobile app development) was born.\u00a0 Through the years, the company has seen many iterations of our product, but one thing remains constant: growth and transformation\u00a0are essential to what we do.\u00a0 Those have become the pillars of MAD-learn\u2019s philosophy and pedagogy and these values are championed by our ever-expanding team.<\/div>\n
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At MAD-learn, we believe students must be the creators of technology, not just consumers.\u00a0 In that vein, we\u2019ve spent nine rewarding years developing a standards-aligned curriculum that puts students in the driver\u2019s seat.\u00a0 Mobile app development isn\u2019t just about computers and coding – it\u2019s about developing student autonomy, collaboration, critical thinking, and computer science skills that are critical 21st-century workforce demands.\u00a0 So as we blow out our candles and give thanks for another year, we\u2019ll make a wish that MAD-learn apps, memories, and lifelong skills are being created in each of your classrooms.<\/div>\n
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Attention Georgia Teachers! If your students are interested in social activism and app design, it\u2019s not too late to participate in the CS4GA App and Design Challenge.\u00a0 This state-wide competition is for middle and high school students who are interested in developing app and design skills while promoting \u201cawareness, community service and innovation\u201d according to CS4GA challenge guidelines.\u00a0 The deadline to submit winners is February 17, 2023 (*refer to the note at the bottom of the table for School and District Guidelines<\/span><\/a>).<\/div>\n
The challenge calls for students to work individually or in teams of up to three to create an app that solves a community-based problem using the six-step design thinking process.\u00a0 Students must also complete a written submission describing the goal of their app and create a 1-2 minute video highlighting what the app does and its features.\u00a0 MAD-learn is the perfect tool for students interested in this challenge.\u00a0 Good luck, Georgia students and teachers! Let us know if you would like feedback on your submission.<\/div>\n
For more information, visit https:\/\/cs4ga.org\/app-challenge<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Please tag us on social media with your students\u2019 app designs.\u00a0 We can\u2019t wait to see what they create – hAPPy designing!<\/div>\n
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Dr. Mary Mwangi<\/b> is channeling big digital energy. As a soon-to-be-named MAD-expert and ambassador from Cobb County School District, she encourages her middle school students to take their love of technology, phones, and social media and harness their focus on creating technology rather than only consuming it. MAD-learn has been the perfect tool to \u201cpropel students to\u2026think big,\u201d she said. But Mary, who has been teaching for 26 years, also encourages other teachers to bring mobile app development into their classrooms as a way to \u201cengage and empower teens\u201d in \u201call subjects and all aspects of life – career, health, safety, journalism [and] art.\u201d Her students have proven this through apps they have created on subjects such as assistive technology and to spread awareness about important causes. According to Mary, \u201capp development in this platform inspires effective communication, critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving.”<\/div>\n
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In fact, Mary has been such an advocate for mobile app development as a pedagogical tool that she recently convinced four teachers to attend a MAD-learn training so they could begin implementing it in their classrooms. She especially appreciates the new platform that launched this month, saying she is \u201cin love with it\u201d and that she anticipates her students will \u201cdive right in.\u201d Mary also emphasized that her students appreciate the accessibility and resources of the MAD-learn platform. \u201c[The] MAD-learn platform is accessible for all students, [from] beginners with no coding experience to advanced,\u201d she said.<\/div>\n
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FETC<\/b> is around the corner! Will you be there? Make sure you come find us on Monday, Jan 23 at 11 am in Room 355 for the first-ever and only “App Development for Elementary Students” workshop! Learn how MAD-learn can help you bring an app development experience to your elementary students, build an app from start to finish yourself, hear implementation ideas from teachers across the country, and leave with some amazing MAD-swag.<\/div>\n
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We will also be on the UndisruptED Podcast Tuesday morning with Carl Hooker and Adam Phyall (streaming live from outside the exhibit hall) and on a CEO panel about Entrepreneurship and EdTech Innovation moderated by Jen Womble on Wednesday at 2 pm. Looking forward to seeing you in The Big Easy next week!<\/div>\n
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… congratulating our #appsthatmatter 2022 Grant Winners! Check them out here<\/span><\/a>. We received a record number of applications this year and had a very hard time selecting only 5 teachers to win this grant. Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit their applications, share their meaningful work with us, and continue to do whatever it takes to bring the best experiences to your students.<\/div>\n
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To our winners, CONGRATULATIONS! We are so excited to see what you and your students create this semester. Make sure you schedule your 1-1 training session<\/span><\/a> with our team ASAP to get started.<\/div>\n
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MAD-news is a monthly newsletter from MAD-learn\u00ae\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
delivered to your inbox on the 15th of every month.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u00a92023 MAD-learn\u00ae. All rights reserved.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Hi Guest, Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful holiday break and are now back in full force…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9227"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9227"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9243,"href":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9227\/revisions\/9243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mad-learn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}