 Knowing how to make mobile apps in 2020 is like knowing how to make a website in 2000: a skill much in demand but known by few. Now anyone hoping to learn to create apps for iOS or Android can take advantage of a free suite of interactive tutorials from the University of Maine’s New Media program.
The fourteen tutorials take a practical approach to creating mobile apps using technologies familiar to anyone who’s worked on a website before, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These step-by-step screencasts take learners from designing and building multiple screens through accepting user input to storing and retrieving data in the cloud.
The tutorials methodically build a cross-platform phone app that helps identify lost pets. Along the way students learn some of the most popular frameworks today, from React Native to Google Firebase.
To share their progress, learners can also earn credits as part of New Media’s Just-in-Time Learning platform. As they watch the videos, students pass embedded quizzes to qualify for digital badges that serve as microcredentials for classes and resumes.
The mobile development tutorials take advantage of recent upgrades to the Just-in-Time Learning platform, including progressive code snippets and variable playback speeds.
Most of the screencasts come with written transcripts for those who prefer to read rather than watch tutorials.
Although the React Native suite was originally developed for the Mobile Applications course in the New Media program, any learner can earn a badge for free with nothing more than an email address. The Just-in-Time Learning platform offers over 100 interactive tutorials from woodworking to webmaking.