New Club Attracts Students, Parents and Staff

Way back, apples signified a respectful treat from student to teacher. But nowadays, most things Apple begin with the letter “i” (think iPod, iPhone and iPad).  So on April 28th, based on student demand, the brand new Senior School iPhone App Club held its first meeting. And you don’t even need an iPhone to join!

Meeting weekly until the end of the school year, this hands-on club teaches the basic skills needed to create iPhone apps. Jonathan Mott-Trille, the club’s catalyst, calls it “an opportunity to not just be consumers of this technology, but builders of it.”
The club’s attendees currently include students, parents and staff, who are ably instructed by IT Project Lead Ralph Mueller, with technical assistance from IT Department members Eric Wong and Mazhar Mukhtar.

Each meeting begins with Mr. Mueller presenting a hands-on knowledge-building task in PowerPoint. Thanks to its location in the Media Lab, club members don’t need an iPhone to learn how to create these simple apps. Instead, software development kits, downloaded onto iMacs, allow users to build and test their apps on an iPhone simulator. Said Mr. Mueller, “They can see right away if it works or if it’s going to crash.”
After familiarizing themselves with the graphic interface, and acquiring simple programming and app building skills, the enthusiastic club members are spending the remainder of club meetings creating a simple, on-screen calculator.

Mr. Mueller hopes the club will become a full-fledged concern in the new school year and, eventually, one that is student driven. They also plan to purchase a full app developing license that will allow club members to deploy the apps they create to Apple’s various devices.