Cited by 125Teaching and Learning ProgrammingEducational Robotics and EngineeringSpreadsheets and End-User Computing

MIT App Inventor: Objectives, Design, and Development

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Patton, Evan W., Tissenbaum, Michael, Harunani, Farzeen·2019·Computational Thinking Education

Abstract

MIT App Inventor is an online platform designed to teach computational thinking concepts through development of mobile applications. Students create applications by dragging and dropping components into a design view and using a visual blocks language to program application behavior. In this chapter, we discuss (1) the history of the development of MIT App Inventor, (2) the project objectives of the project and how they shape the design of the system, and (3) the processes MIT uses to develop the platform and how they are informed by computational thinking literature. Key takeaways include use of components as abstractions, alignment of blocks with student mental models, and the benefits of fast, iterative design on learning.

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Begel, A., & Klopfer, E. (2007). Starlogo TNG: An introduction to game development. Journal of E-Learning, 53, 146.
  2. Deng, X. (2017). Group collaboration with App Inventor (Masters thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
  3. Morelli, R., De Lanerolle, T., Lake, P., Limardo, N., Tamotsu, E., & Uche, C. (2011, March). Can Android App Inventor bring computational thinking to k-12. In Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE'11) (pp. 1-6).
  4. Papert, S. (1993). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas (2nd ed.). Basic Books.

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Authors
Patton, E. W., Tissenbaum, M., & Harunani, F.
Affiliations
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
Corresponding author
Patton, Evan W.
Venue
Computational Thinking Education
Published
2019
Pages
31-49
OpenAlex
W2966718639
Cited by
121
References
31
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 2
FWCI
30.26
Type
book chapter
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Springer eBooks (publishedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
The Education University of Hong Kong
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Teaching and Learning Programming
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Educational Robotics and Engineering
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Software › Spreadsheets and End-User Computing
Keywords
MIT App Inventor, computational thinking, visual programming, block-based programming, mobile application development, abstraction, student mental models, iterative design, programming education

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