Learn Code
Godwin-Jones (2011) discusses different possibilities of creating apps, the first is a native app which is an app developed for a certain mobile device that can be downloaded from the app stores. This can be good as you can learn specific code languages if you know you only want to create an IOS application. "However, for language learning purposes, native app development may not be the best choice. Not only are the programming environments different, each also involves knowing or learning a programming language" (Godwin-Jones, 2011, p.5). This is why I have chosen not to make a native app for Codability. A strong supporter of open software is Lawrence Lessig founder of ‘Creative Commons’ he stated, “four hundred thousand have said, we believe in a kind of freedom associated with our content that is not the extreme” (Lessig, 2004, p.11). With many free tools and resources available online it would be useful to utilise the open-source software and code. There is plenty of documentation available online. Lessig (2004) believes that sharing information and content allows for growth and creativity and we can learn, develop and take inspiration from other people’s work and ideas. Therefore, this is why I chose to Use Apache Cordova which is an open-source mobile development framework.
Another example is 'hybrid apps' which is a web app which is then ported through a tool such as PhoneGap (which is also known as Cordova) to the native environment of the smartphone. "It supports most smartphone platforms and features progressive enhancement, meaning that its advanced features degrade gracefully if not supported in a given mobile browser, while maintaining across all browsers the same essential content and functionality." (Godwin-Jones, 2011, p.6). This means if it is not supported, for example, page transitions such as fading will simply with not appear, but the new page will still be displayed.
Cordova "allows you to use standard web technologies - HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for cross-platform development. Applications execute within wrappers targeted to each platform, and rely on standards-compliant API bindings to access each device's capabilities such as sensors, data, network status, etc" (Cordova, 2020). With Cordova "you can extend an application across more than one platform, without having to re-implement it with each platform's language and tool set" and "deploy a web app that's packaged for distribution in various App Store portals" (Cordova, 2020).
Jeannette Wing, a corporate vice president at Microsoft Research, said everyone should learn computational thinking. "Computational thinking helps people learn how to think abstractly and pull apart a problem into smaller pieces. One concrete way to learn aspects of those skills is programming" (Shein, 2014). By having users use Codability on the go they can do more computational thinking for shorter periods of time and it means they will be more focused as they can concentrate harder for shorter periods.
Analysis of this literature has helped informed my own decisions with Codability as "app development is currently progressing at a feverish pace, and app developers are in high demand" (Godwin-Jones, 2011, p.5). Therefore making Codability an app over a website gives a new way of coding with endless possibilities.
Godwin-Jones, R. 2011. Mobile apps for language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 15(2), pp.2-11.
Shein, E. 2014. Should everybody learn to code? Communications of the ACM. 57(2), pp.16-18.
Another example is 'hybrid apps' which is a web app which is then ported through a tool such as PhoneGap (which is also known as Cordova) to the native environment of the smartphone. "It supports most smartphone platforms and features progressive enhancement, meaning that its advanced features degrade gracefully if not supported in a given mobile browser, while maintaining across all browsers the same essential content and functionality." (Godwin-Jones, 2011, p.6). This means if it is not supported, for example, page transitions such as fading will simply with not appear, but the new page will still be displayed.
Cordova "allows you to use standard web technologies - HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for cross-platform development. Applications execute within wrappers targeted to each platform, and rely on standards-compliant API bindings to access each device's capabilities such as sensors, data, network status, etc" (Cordova, 2020). With Cordova "you can extend an application across more than one platform, without having to re-implement it with each platform's language and tool set" and "deploy a web app that's packaged for distribution in various App Store portals" (Cordova, 2020).
Jeannette Wing, a corporate vice president at Microsoft Research, said everyone should learn computational thinking. "Computational thinking helps people learn how to think abstractly and pull apart a problem into smaller pieces. One concrete way to learn aspects of those skills is programming" (Shein, 2014). By having users use Codability on the go they can do more computational thinking for shorter periods of time and it means they will be more focused as they can concentrate harder for shorter periods.
Analysis of this literature has helped informed my own decisions with Codability as "app development is currently progressing at a feverish pace, and app developers are in high demand" (Godwin-Jones, 2011, p.5). Therefore making Codability an app over a website gives a new way of coding with endless possibilities.
Bibliography
Cordova. 2020. Overview. [Online]. [Accessed 15 January 2020]. Available from: https://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/latest/guide/overview/Shein, E. 2014. Should everybody learn to code? Communications of the ACM. 57(2), pp.16-18.
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