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New Year, New MAD-learn

It’s the new year and we are off to an amazing start! The MAD-learn team has been working tirelessly over the past year to bring you a new and improved program that delivers a highly intuitive approach to mobile app development for students of all ages and stages. Our one-of-a-kind program now takes students through a step-by-step process of engineering design and design thinking as it relates to app development. Six modules integrated into MAD-learn with one easy interface to navigate and introduce ALL students to technology creation: ideate, plan, design, build, test, and launch. There’s nothing else out there like it and we can’t wait to see what you think. Give it a try today!

Ideate: Brainstorm your amazing app ideas and decide which ones you are most passionate about building.
Plan: Research and think critically about what you want your app to do and what functions you want to include. 
Design: Edit or create your own images and logo to build your brand and create the aesthetic and style you want your app to have.
Build: Create your app screens and program them to do what you want them to do.
Test: Preview your app on your computer or on your phone, get feedback, revamp it accordingly, and ensure that it is polished and works perfectly.
Launch: Present and pitch your app to your class, school, or even your district at a MAD-shark tank event.

Avatars, progress tracker, and rewards: Your students get to choose from a wide array of whimsical and fun avatars as their profile pictures once they login to the new MAD-learn platform- images to reflect their mood, personality, likes, and hobbies.  Fun fact: These avatars were designed and created by a MAD-learn intern! Students are also able to track their progress at each level of the app-building process and see all completed stages and determine if their app is ready to be reviewed for potential publishing and to earn badges. Students receive badges for reaching certain milestones. – bragging rights which they can share on social media or in email signatures (if they are feeling fancy). 

Analytics at a glance for teachers: Teachers will be able to see and monitor students’ app-building progress on the teacher dashboard. They will also be able to see other important information such as the type of license purchased for the school or classroom, the total number of apps created, and the number of published apps. All the tools you need to inspire students to create apps that matter are in one easy, accessible place. 

Individual ideas, shared ideas, and custom mind maps: As students think of their own ideas and brainstorm with their teammates, they have the option to write down all their great ideas on MAD-learn’s revamped idea board where they can always refer back to these ideas or draw inspiration from the shared ideas of other students. They can also experiment and have fun with customizing their mind maps by changing the font type, size, colors, and stem colors.

Guides, prompts, and tutorial videos: Building an app has now become so intuitive that you can do it yourself with very little or no help at all. There are also various indicators and guides to help clarify steps at different phases of the process. For example, when working on screens, you can watch tutorial videos to understand the function of each screen. Find useful links to resources at each stage within our app-building platform.

All new Test module: Our new platform includes a test module that allows users to review and score their app using our customized app checklist.  Users self-evaluate (or peer evaluate) based on specific criteria and receive an app quality score.  Based on this score, students can determine if their app needs more work or if it is ready to request publication – or earn a badge.  

In addition, the test module also allows users to generate a QR code and a web link to share their app.  A unique code is no longer required to view your app – just scan the QR code or enter your web link to share and view your app with anyone. 

All new Launch module: In our launch module, students can add a description and tags to their app.  Students also have the opportunity to learn best practices for pitching their app to their class or community through resources such as our slide deck and video tutorials.  Users will also be able to request that their app be published to our MAD-store – our version of the App Store or Google Play. The MAD-store hosts exemplar apps that meet stringent publishing criteria and showcase apps that demonstrate mastery of app building and design.

Autosave feature: No need to worry about remembering to save your work at each stage of the app-building process. Our new autosave feature does the work for you!

We are excited to open this world of new possibilities to you. Explore and find out more about the custom features the new MAD-learn has to offer. Students now engage in a hands-on, step-by-step experience through our standards-based curriculum modules. We are excited to share some of the key features with you and encourage you to dive in and explore further.  Just sign up here to start exploring!