Teacher-Made Apps. No Code Required.
RSSBy Lauren Barack
Interested in making your own learning app? Then check out eduPad, a French company that’s encouraging educators to transform their lesson plans and curriculum ideas into mobile applications—no coding experience necessary. But only the passionate need apply. “We’re not looking for tons of authors,” says Jérôme Serre, eduPad’s CEO. “We’re looking for committed people, who will follow up their content, update, and enrich it in the long run.” Thus far, 100 people have participated in eduPad’s beta launch. The company has launched two iPad apps in the U.S. market, English Grade 5 and Math Grade 5, with two additional titles available in France, all through the Apple store. Android versions are in the works, as are iPhone and iPod Touch versions, which are EduPad allows you to try the apps out for free; users can view anywhere from six to 15 chapters before making a decision to purchase. In addition, all app content is stored locally on a device, syncing when there’s an Internet connection, but able to function without one. That means no lag time, says Serre, which is ideal for busy teachers faced with a classroom full of students ready to get started. Educators participating in eduPad’s authoring program will receive 20 percent of the net price of each download of their app, after Apple’s 30 percent cut, notes Serre. He sees this as a favorable arrangement. “This is between two and three times more than usual editors’ deals,” he says, adding that teachers will be allowed to help set the price tag. “We will fix the price in accordance with the teachers so that they are competitive.” For those who weren’t invited to beta test the platform, eduPad will be opening its doors to additional authors later this fall, even allowing teachers to coauthor apps through a Web-based interface, according to its site. Also by the fall, multiple users will be able to use a single app at the same time for a more game-like learning experience. Combining a gaming element with apps designed by teachers could engage students in a more dynamic fashion, according to EduPad’s CEO. “The basic idea when we started designing the app engine was, learning meets game dynamics,” says Serre. “Version 2.0 of our learning engine integrates on an opt-in basis players’ scores and achievements in the Apple Game Center (www.apple.com/game-center), one of the largest and fastest growing social gaming networks. This is a first in education. Our market studies show that it could be a game changer.”
expected by the end of the year, says Serre.
