MAD-learned was thrilled to host a special Teacher Takeover in September to celebrate the hard work and dedication of our MAD-teachers who are using the design thinking app development program with their students in innovative ways. As special guest speakers and representatives of their schools, they had the opportunity to share the work of their students with an audience of educators across the county at this 1-hour virtual event.
MAD-learn’s CEO and founder, Alefiya Master, kicked off the event by introducing guest speakers Saundra Watts of Barber Middle (Cobb County School District), Heather Miller of Chamblee High School (DeKalb County School District), and Jacqueline Johnson of Millennium Art Academy (NYC Public Schools).
In her presentation, Saundra Watts shared her students’ experiences with MAD-learn’s virtual internship program. Several of her middle schoolers had the opportunity to intern with MAD-learn as part of their prize package for winning the CS4GA App and Design Challenge. Saundra also shared her own experience as an extern with MAD-learn as well as the ways she is using mobile app development with her students.
Jacqueline Johnson, who teaches both computer science and math at Millennium Art Academy in New York, has been using MAD-learn with her students for the last two years. She shared her experience and how useful MAD-learn’s design-thinking app development program has been for her and her students. An example was how her students built various apps to depict their understanding of as well as celebrate Black History Month. In encouraging other educators to keep stimulating the minds of their students, she said: “Depending on what your content area is, you could give a student an opportunity to build an app!”
Heather Miller, one of our biggest MAD-ambassadors at Chamblee High School shared how MAD-learn has been especially helpful for her second language learners. According to Ms. Miller, her students enjoy the brainstorming phase of app building and always go through the 6-step design thinking process with ease.
It was such an honor having these awesome educators share their very diverse experiences with several teachers across the country. Students are creating mind-blowing apps that matter and we are extremely proud not only of their work but also of all the teachers who support them in meaningful ways.