Apps for Good: Impact report 2012

Apps for Good
Impact report 2011/12

Apps for Good is a course that enhances the enterprising spirit of young people in a
caring, purposeful, 21st century context.
Martin Nirimsloo, Senior team, St Matthew Academy

The Apps for Good project blends technology, creativity, investment and talent in a way that
should help inspire young people to develop apps that can make a real difference to their
lives and the lives of others.
Bob Schukai, AfG expert
Global Head of Mobile Technology, Thomson Reuters, and
Tech City Investment Organisation ambassador

Contents
Executive summary.............................................................................................. 3
2011/12 outcomes ..................................................................................................... 3

How AfG works.................................................................................................... 5
Theory of change........................................................................................................ 5
Process of change ....................................................................................................... 5
The AfG five-step course methodology ....................................................................... 6
What makes AfG special ............................................................................................. 7
Stakeholder value exchange ....................................................................................... 9

Are we making an impact? ................................................................................ 10
The students ................................................................................................................................10
The educators ..............................................................................................................................11
The schools ..................................................................................................................................11

Analysing outcomes and impact ............................................................................... 12
How the Apps for Good programme produces its outcomes ...................................... 13
Student outcomes .................................................................................................... 14
Students improve their entrepreneurial and technical skills .......................................................14
Students increase their confidence .............................................................................................16
Students are clearer on their career interests .............................................................................16
Educator outcomes ......................................................................................................................18
General outcomes ........................................................................................................................20

The Apps for Good Awards ................................................................................ 21
A selection of 2012’s student winners ....................................................................... 23

Educator training .............................................................................................. 25
Average cost per student/school........................................................................ 26
Achievements in 2011/12 .................................................................................. 27
Aims for 2012/3................................................................................................. 28
Sponsors and supporters.................................................................................... 29
Strategic sponsors .................................................................................................... 29
Apps for Good Awards sponsors ............................................................................... 30

Lessons learned and what we are doing about them .......................................... 31

2 www.appsforgood.org

Apps for Good – Young people designing apps that change their world

Apps for Good1 (AfG) aims to ignite in students a passion for technology by supporting educators to
help their students design problem-solving mobile apps.

AfG provides a methodology, learning
resources and training to educators,
who then facilitate problem-centred
sessions where students design their
own mobile applications which solve
a real-world problem that they care
about. AfG connects industry
professionals to the students and
educators so that they learn from
experts in the field.

Executive summary

Apps for Good aims to create the following outcomes:

 Students more skilled and confident; clearer on their career interests
 Educators more skilled, knowledgeable and confident
 Greater personal engagement between students, educators and industry professionals
 Communities gain from having young people with motivation and skills to solve problems
using technology

2011/12 outcomes

Student outcomes

1. Students improve their entrepreneurial2 and technical skills

 On each of the entrepreneurial skills that students were asked to describe the effect of AfG,
between 19%-35% of students said that AfG had a significant3 effect
o 35% of students said that AfG had a significant effect on their programming skills
 On each of the entrepreneurial skills that educators were asked to describe the effect of
AfG, between 43-74% of educators said that AfG had a significant effect on students
o 74% of educators said that AfG had a significant effect on students’ teamwork skills

1
Apps for Good is the programme run by the charity CDI Apps for Good (AfG).
2
‘Entrepreneurial skills’ are taken here to encompass the following skills: teamwork and
collaboration, team communication, market research, making presentations, problem solving, idea
generation, project management, working with adults.
3
In this report, the use of the word ‘significant’ does not have any specific statistical meaning.
Rather it is used in the layman’s sense.


(AfG) really helps you become more creative, become a leader and an effective
listener.
AfG student, 16

2. Students improve their confidence

 45% of students say that they are more confident because of the course
 65% of educators say that students have significantly improved their confidence because of
the AfG course

In AfG we got to actually make something and be creative - I used my own ideas.
We are responsible for our actions and we are responsible for making it better.
AfG student, 12

3. Students are clearer on their career interests

 48% of students say that AfG has helped them to be clearer about their career plans
 59% of educators say that AfG has given the students greater clarity on their strengths and
weaknesses
 A higher number of students (2-3% more) reported that they were ‘very interested’ in a
career in business and technology because of the AfG course

This course has allowed me to discover that I could become a very good
entrepreneur.
AfG student, 14

Educator outcomes

 56% of educators feel they learned new relevant subject knowledge because of AfG
 52% of educators who feel they have become more confident because of their experience
delivering the AfG course
 39% of educators feel they developed new teaching methods because of AfG
 35% of educators feel they learned new technical skills because of AfG

Note
These data above are based on a survey conducted with AfG schools in the UK in June 2012. The survey respondents
were as follows: 268 students (population 1252), 23 educators (population 90) and 19 senior team members (population
38).


How AfG works

Theory of change

When educators facilitate teams of students to design mobile applications to solve real-
world problems, with support from industry experts, students improve their entrepreneurial
skills4, technical skills and confidence.

A positive by-product of this process is that in many cases teachers develop new
pedagogical skills, subject knowledge and confidence.

Process of change

The diagram below shows the process by which CDI AfG generates its objectives. Important points
to note are the educational resources developed by CDI AfG in conjunction with a number of
advisory sources, the facilitation of the course by educators in schools, and the expert input from
industry professionals to the student teams.

Education resources developed by CDI AfG

Hardware devices App design
from sponsors software

Educators facilitate
app design sessions

Training and support Industry experts advise
from CDI AfG Students design students on their app ideas
their own problem-
solving mobile apps

1. Students improve entrepreneurial skills,
confidence, product design skills, critical
The best student apps win evaluation skills and technical skills
AfG awards, are 2. Educators improve subject knowledge,
developed and released pedagogical skills, confidence and networking
into the market opportunities
3. Community gains from having young people with
motivation and skills to solve problems using
technology

Key

Inputs
Key activities
Outcomes

4
‘Entrepreneurial skills’ are taken here to encompass the following skills: teamwork and
collaboration, team communication, market research, making presentations, problem solving, idea
generation, project management, working with adults.


The AfG five-step course methodology

The AfG course that educators use to facilitate their sessions can roughly be separated into five
steps:

1. Problem definition – students state their problem succinctly and concisely
2. Market research – students research the problem and validate their assumptions
3. Solution design – students design a solution to the problem which works on mobile,
understand their users and build a basic business model
4. Product design – students design the app’s wire frames and create a mock-up
5. Build and test – students use App Inventor5 to build a prototype and test it with users

1: Problem Definition
5. Build & Test

4: Product Design 2: Market Research

3: Solution Design

Although the five ‘steps’ of the course seem to imply a linear approach, the course does not run
linearly but in cycles of iteration as students continually refine their problem definition and solution
based on user feedback. Educators introduce App Inventor early in the course so that students can
gain practical experience of app development before they make their final product designs. This
means the fifth ‘step’ is run concurrently with the other stages of the course.

The programme pushes learners into positions of leadership.
Andrew Stevens, Senior team, Garth Hill College

We champion educated risk taking and this whole process ensures that our
students are capable of proposing a possible idea and then developing this into
something workable.
Tracy Langmead, Senior team, Lipson Community College

5
http://appinventor.mit.edu


What makes AfG special

AfG is unique because it combines these specialities together into one programme:

 Young people are engaged on problems which they care about (problem-based learning
adapted from Paulo Freire’s educational theory6)
 AfG gives educators the opportunity to bring industry professionals into the classroom,
from whom both the students and educators can learn
 AfG connects a community of educators who want to change the way students learn ICT

We had the freedom to choose our own problem, so it was something that
mattered to us.
AfG student, 13

The AfG course has really supported the entrepreneurial zeal of our young people.
It has broadened their understanding of existing technologies, put them in a 'real
life' and business context and given them access to leaders in the field.

We see the Apps for Good course as an integral way in researching how we
develop our curriculum in the future to create projects for very clear purpose,
ultimately aiding in young person’s entrepreneurial skills development. Projects
for purpose are very important in our new curriculum and Apps for Good gives us a
great case study to build upon.
Adam Hodgess, AfG educator, Lipson Community College

Apps for Good has given our students a brilliant design opportunity and has the
potential to act as a cornerstone of a technology offer which links core ICT,
creative design and contextualised computer science.
Sir Mark Grundy, Headteacher, Shirelands Collegiate Academy

6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire


AfG connects professionals from industry with students to give them expert insights and
information from the field. There is recent evidence from the Education and Employers Taskforce
(EET)7 to suggest that connecting young people to employer contacts has these positive benefits:

 Access to professionals whilst at school helps to compensate for social disadvantage
 Statistically significant positive relationships exist between the number of employer
contacts (such as careers talks or work experience) that a young person experiences in
school (between the ages of 14 and 19) and:
o Their confidence (at 19-24) in progression towards ultimate career goals
o The likelihood of whether (at 19-24) they are NEET8 or non-NEET
o Earnings if salaried
 A link exists between high levels of school-age employer contacts and ultimate workplace
productivity
 Young people are known to be especially attentive to the views of professionals they come
into contact with in educational settings and overwhelmingly agree that contacts help in
career decision-making

The EET report mentions data from the British Cohort Society and DeMontford University which
found that ‘young people with uncertain or unrealistic career aspirations at 16 were two to
three times more likely to become NEET for six months or more at 16-18 than better informed,
more realistic peers.’

In addition the report states, ‘the
greater the engagement with
adult professionals from the
workplace, the greater likelihood
that individual pupils will gain
access to useful, relevant,
trusted information concerning
career aspirations and pathways
beyond those found within
existing networks and
information sources, notably
families or the media.’

In summary, there is a need to
have more employer
engagement with young people, and these engagements tend to have statistically significant
positive impacts on the futures of those young people.

Mentoring St Matthew Academy pupils with their Mobile Apps from ideas through
to creation was a great opportunity and fantastic experience for all! St Matthew
Academy won two of the Mobile App awards in the Learning and Community
Categories. I’m extremely proud of them!
Leila Thomas, Technical Project Manager at Thomson Reuters and AfG mentor

7
It’s who you meet: why employer contacts at school make a difference to the employment
prospects of young adults, Dr Anthony Mann, Director of Research and Policy, Education and
Employers Taskforce (2011)
8
Not in Education, Employment or Training


Stakeholder value exchange

The four main stakeholders in the Apps for Good programme are the students, the educators, the
sponsors and the experts. The diagram below shows how the exchange of value happens between
these groups.

To experts:
networking in
education, access to To students: what
young people, real jobs are like

Access to
Educators youth market Sponsors

Training, Financial support,
networking expertise, corporate
opportunities, volunteering
resources for class
Teaching Opportunities to
expertise, co- mentor students
creating resources

Better Facilitation,
engagement, guidance, Networking
learning and technical and with a high
demonstrated subject CDI AfG quality pool of
leadership knowledge Resources, Apps professionals
for Good Awards,
access to experts
Advice, industry
insights
Alumni network, Opportunities to
fulfilment mentor students,
networking with
other experts

Insights from
Students young people Experts

Advice, industry To educators:
To sponsors:
experience, industry experience
a pool of
mentoring and networking,
future talent subject knowledge

This experience was amazing and brilliant as I got to design an app and talk to big
industrial people. I would recommend this to everyone as I learned so many things
like using Prezi, building mock ups.
AfG student, 14


Are we making an impact?

(Apps for Good has) had a transformative, life-changing effect on some students.
Janet Chapman, Senior team, Central Foundation Girls’ School

The level of confidence, aspiration and pure 'spirit' of the young people who have
participated in the course has been noticed by my staff, their parents and their
peers. I certainly feel that AfG is a programme to be celebrated and it one of the
beacons in enterprise education and the development of employability skills
amongst young people. AfG encourages its participants and has long term
benefits outside of the classroom as 'inspiration', 'aspiration' and the
encouragement of hard work and 'perspiration' will create 21st century leaders,
thinkers and innovators.

The students

 The number of AfG students has grown rapidly from 47 in 2010/11 to more than 5000 in
2012/13
 82% of AfG students are 12-14 years old
 38% of AfG students don’t own a smart phone

Students doing Apps for Good
2010/11 47

2011/12 1252

2012/13 5000

 AfG students are 15% more likely than the UK average to be of non-white ethnicity9
 AfG students are 7% more likely than the UK average to be receiving free school meals10
 41% of AfG students are female (24% higher than females in the UK tech industry)11

9
Department for Education, SFR, Jan 2011,
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001012/sfr12-2011.pdf
10
Department for Education, SFR, Jan 2011,
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001012/sfr12-2011.pdf
11
E-Skills UK, Women in IT, March 2009 (http://www.e-skills.com/about-e-skills-uk/what-we-
do/making-a-difference/encouraging-girls-into-it/)


Non-white ethnicity Free school meals Females
= 15% 37%
= 7% 22% = 24% 41%
22% 15%
17%

UK national AfG students UK national average AfG students In tech industry AfG students
average

The educators

 The number of AfG educators has grown rapidly from 4 in 2010/11 to more than 250 in
2012/13

Educators facilitating Apps for
Good
2010/11 4

2011/12 90

2012/13 250

The schools

 The number of schools running the AfG course has grown from 2 in 2010/11 to 100 in
2012/13
 66% of AfG schools are 11-18 mixed comprehensives
 There is a good spread of AfG schools around the UK for 2012/13, with 74% located outside
London

Schools running Apps for Good 2012/13 AfG school partners
East of
2010/11 2 Yorkshire England

SW London

2011/12 38

2012/13 100 SE Midlands

NE
Scotland NW


Analysing outcomes and impact

Apps for Good aims to create the following outcomes:

 Students more skilled and confident; clearer on their career interests
 Educators more skilled, knowledgeable and confident
 Greater personal engagement between students, educators and industry professionals
 Communities gain from having young people with motivation and skills to solve problems
using technology


How the Apps for Good programme produces its outcomes

CDI Apps for Good supports educators to run the AfG programme as a five-step course, taking students through the stages of defining their problem,
researching it, designing a solution and its associated app product, and then building, testing and iterating that design. Each step’s activities produce a set
of outcomes for the students, which accumulate to produce a set of summary outcomes.

The diagram below shows how the course’s structure produces the outcomes stated. CDI AfG and educators provide the inputs, and the activities in each
of the five steps of the course produce a set of outputs and outcomes which combine to give the summary outcomes for stakeholders on the right hand
side.
Outputs
and
outcomes
Students understand the app
design process, and can use Students can generate a series
AppInventor to build a of real-world problems and
prototype assess their validity
CDI inputs Summary
Activities outcomes
Students can
• AfG course Students can improve articulate the SQCA Students
Students use Students work in
materials their app by testing it AppInventor to framing of a problem
with users teams to define • entrepreneurial skills
build and test real world
• Industry their app • confidence
problems
experts
Build
• product design skills
Problem • critical evaluation skills
and Students can
• CDI training definition • technical skills
test conduct market
and ongoing 5 1 research through
support Students can Student Students interviews, surveys
use simple design wire 4 2 design and and web searching
mock-up tools conduct
Educators
frames of Product 3 Market to verify a problem
to illustrate the their solution, design research market
wireframe of build scenario research, user Students can • subject knowledge
an app solution maps and Solution analysis, and analyse a user • pedagogical skills
practice using design shoot and edit group and refine • CPD and networking
app mock-up a video their problem opportunities
Students tools statement to meet
Students describe user
Educator understand the their needs
experiences, design, test and
basics of
inputs refine solutions to their problem, Students can design,
product design,
build a business model, and pitch shoot and edit a video
scenario Community
the solution which illustrates the
mapping and
• Educators site mapping problem • young people with
facilitate problem- motivation and skills to
focused app Students understand their users, solve problems using
Students gain confidence
design sessions know some simple methods for technology
from pitching their ideas,
testing solutions, and understand
and engage with and learn • engagement between
basic business modelling
from experts students and industry

Student outcomes

Students improve their entrepreneurial12 and technical skills

 On each of the entrepreneurial skills that students were asked to describe the effect of AfG,
between 19%-35% of students said that AfG had a significant13 effect
 The most significant effect on their skills, according to students, was the effect of AfG on
their programming skills (35% of students rated the effect as significant). Although the
AfG course doesn’t currently include much programming, it is encouraging to see that
students are feeling more confident in ICT-related areas. Currently AfG is building more
programming into the course for the 2012/13 year.
 32% of students said that AfG had a significant effect on their ability to do research – this
is also encouraging because as an educator, research can often be a frustrating skill to try
to develop in your students

Percentage of students who feel that AfG has had a significant effect on
these abilities
35%
32% 31% 29% 27% 27% 25% 24%
19%

Programming Doing Working in Coming up Solving Evaluating Making Working with Using
(e.g. building research groups/teams with ideas problems ideas presentations adults computers
websites or
applications)

N = 267

I developed my teamwork in groups by practising working with different
people. I learned how to make an app step by step and how to present it.
AfG student, 14

Apps for Good allowed me to develop my programming and group working skills,
particularly in mobile programming, and it also gave an insight into the full
development cycle of an application in the industry, including the business-
orientated areas.
AfG student, 18

(AfG) really helps you become more creative, become a leader and an effective
listener.
AfG student, 16

12
‘Entrepreneurial skills’ are taken here to encompass the following skills: teamwork and collaboration, team
communication, market research, making presentations, problem solving, idea generation, project
management, working with adults.
13
In this report, the use of the word ‘significant’ does not have any specific statistical meaning.
Rather it is used in the layman’s sense.


 On each of the entrepreneurial skills that educators were asked to describe the effect of
AfG, between 43-74% of educators said that AfG had a significant effect on students
 74% of educators said that AfG had a significant effect on students’ teamwork skills.
Along with 31% of students who rated AfG as having a significant effect on their teamwork
skills, and a high proportion of responses from the baseline survey mentioning teamwork
as an important skill gained from AfG, this highlights the collaborative benefits of the AfG
methodology.
 61% of educators said that AfG had a significant effect on students’ ability to use
technology/ICT
 In nine out of eleven of the skills educators were asked about, more than half of educators
felt that students had improved their skills significantly

Percentage of educators who think that students improved these skills
significantly because of the AfG course
74%
65% 65% 61% 61% 59% 57% 52% 50% 48% 43%

N = 23

(AfG) gives pupils an opportunity to work independently and within groups to develop
interpersonal and collaborative skills.
Charles Claxton, Senior team, George Green’s School

It provided opportunities for our young people, some of whom are the most vulnerable in
society, to develop ICT skills in a different way. It also enabled them to develop social skills,
working together on a project which has a practical end result.
Stuart Bailey, Senior team, Parkside PRU


Students increase their confidence

 45% of students say that they are more confident because of the course14
 65% of educators say that students have significantly improved their confidence because of
the AfG course15

AfG is less of "this is how to work this program", and more of "this is the program,
do this". This method gives us more independence.
AfG student, 12

In AfG we got to actually make something and be creative - I used my own ideas.
We are responsible for our actions and we are responsible for making it better.
AfG student, 12

Students are clearer on their career interests

 48% of students say that AfG has helped them to be clearer about their career plans16
 59% of educators say that AfG has given the students greater clarity on their strengths and
weaknesses17
 35% of educators say that the students have significantly shifted their career interests
towards technology18
 45% of educators say that the students have significantly shifted their career interests
towards business19
 2-3% more students reported that they were ‘very interested’ in a career in business and
technology in the final (end of year) survey than in the baseline (beginning of year) survey.

14
N = 265, just as confident = 45%, less confident = 6%, N/A = 4%
15
N = 23, small effect = 30%, no effect = 4%
16
N = 268, made no difference = 51%, N/A = 1%
17
N = 22, small effect = 32%, no effect = 9%
18
N = 23, small effect = 22%, no effect = 17%, can’t say = 26%
19
N = 22, small effect = 18%, no effect = 14%, can’t say = 23%


Percentage of students 'very
interested' in these career fields
Baseline survey Final survey

32% 34%
23% 26%

Business Technology
N = 692, 268 (baseline, final)

This has changed my views of the ICT world in a big way. I have acknowledged
how apps are built and how this would work at an app company.
AfG student, 14

This course has allowed me to discover that I could become a very good
entrepreneur.
AfG student, 14

AfG involves a lot of communication between other people and it gives you a taste
of how a team would work in an organisation.
AfG student, 18


Educator outcomes

 56% of educators feel they learned new relevant subject knowledge because of AfG:

The degree to which educators think they have learned new,
relevant subject knowledge because of the AfG course
9% 8%
A lot of new knowledge
learned
A reasonable amount of new
knowledge learned
35% Some new knowledge
learned
48% No new knowledge learned

N = 23

 35% of educators feel they learned new technical skills because of AfG:

The degree to which educators think they have developed new
technical skills because of the AfG course
4% 4%

A lot of new technical skills
developed
31%
A reasonable number of new
technical skills developed
Some new technical skills
developed
61% No new technical skills
developed

N = 23

The development of the project has greatly enhanced the reputation of the
department and the staff involved. Technical knowledge was there already but
the engagement in all aspects of delivery and celebration was an excellent
developmental opportunity and had the glow of innovation and positivity all over
it in times when good news is at a premium.
James Poulter, Senior team, Sussex Downs College

(AfG is) a good vehicle for collaboration between learners and staff.
Bill Kerr, AfG educator, Matthew Moss High School


 39% of educators feel they developed new teaching methods because of AfG:

The degree to which educators think they have developed new
teaching methods because of the AfG course
9%

26% A lot of new teaching methods
developed
A reasonable number of new
30% teaching methods developed
Some new teaching methods
developed
No new teaching methods
developed
35%

N = 23

 52% of educators who feel they have become more confident because of their experience
delivering the AfG course:

The degree to which educators feel they have become more confident
in their teaching because of their experience delivering the AfG course
4%

35% A lot more confident
More confident
A little more confident
48% No more confident

13%

N = 23

Teaching AFG course gave me the opportunity to teach a programme that was driven by
students' interest. It gave me the opportunity to set the stage and facilitate the students'
interest.
Patrick Dawkins, AfG Educator, Featherstone High School


General outcomes

 47% of AfG students rate AfG sessions as better than their normal ICT lessons20

AfG is better than normal ICT lessons because we worked in groups, assigned a
leader each lesson and did scrum meetings, and we could come up with any kind
of app we wanted to.
AfG student, 17

Apps for Good lessons are much better than normal ICT lessons because in AfG we
get to meet people from outside. The group we work in is smaller than normal ICT
lessons so it's fun.
AfG student, 15

At the end of this topic we will have something as a product of months of work. I
like the fact that we have a chance to make our app so real people can use it.
AfG student, 13

Note
These data above are based on a survey conducted with AfG schools in the UK in June 2012. The survey respondents
were as follows: 268 students (population 1252), 23 educators (population 90) and 19 senior team members (population
38).

20
N = 268, same = 28%, worse = 25%


The Apps for Good Awards

In July 2012 AfG hosted the annual Apps for Good Awards at the Barbican Centre in London. 14
student teams from across the UK compete for 7 prizes and the chance to have their app designs
developed professionally. 60 students presented their app designs to experts in business and
technology. The judges selected the winning ideas, and these will now be built and released on the
app market.

The students also made elevator pitches to an audience of 150, and met with the experts for a
more in depth discussion about their ideas.

We were blown away with the quality of (the students’) thinking and enthusiasm.
We also truly enjoyed their pitches in the market place – and the visual stories were
excellent, it helped the kids to get their ideas a cross in a professional way. The
award ceremony was truly touching and an eye-opener for how we need to co-
create the world with the kids not for them.
AfG expert at the Apps for Good Awards

I thought it went swimmingly well – the energy and creativity were fantastic. It’s
been a long time since I saw people like the judges jump out of their seats at the
power and simplicity of an idea. I think you’ve got something there.
Vineet Bewtra, Director, Investments at Omidyar Network and Apps for Good Awards judge

I continue to be blown away by the quality of all the entrants. Well done for
everything that you do. You are making a huge difference.
Louise Ainsworth, Nominet Trust trustee and Apps for Good Awards judge


I travelled up with a bunch of kids, and returned home with a group of young adults.
What I really noticed was the change in conversation. On the way up it was
questions like: "Will there be room service? What are the prizes? Are we there
yet...?” On the way back it was "What do you think will happen to RIM? Do you
think we should develop native or web apps? Can I teleconference in to your lessons
next year to help out?"
Kevin Jones, AfG educator, Sussex Downs College, returning from the Apps for Good Awards

Student 1: Can we do Apps for Good again next year?
Student 2: We don't need to. We've got the skills, know-how and now the business
cards to do it by ourselves and launch it!
AfG students returning from the Apps for Good Awards

This is a programme that introduces the idea of tech entrepreneurship to kids in an
imaginative and stimulating way for everyone involved.
Guest at the Apps for Good Awards

For more information, pictures and videos about the Apps for Good Awards, see
http://appsforgood.org/afga12/.


A selection of 2012’s student winners

Problem
Promises between parents and children are
often forgotten.

Solution
An app which tracks the promises which are
made, and allows both parents and children to
propose and accept promises.

Cool idea
Parents and children can enter an agreed
reward onto the app so that neither side
forgets.

Feelings
in a
Flash

Problem
Teenagers often experience mood swings and
can find it difficult to understand, cope with
and share their feelings.

Solution
An app on which you describe your feelings,
and it tracks them. The user can share their
feelings with best friends and family, and
people can know in advance of meeting up how
their friend of family member is feeling. The
app also provides emotional advice and links to
other websites for help.

Cool idea
You can receive a graph of your feelings on a weekly basis; this app is less public than Facebook.


Qbook

Problem
Literacy standards are dropping; students often don’t
understand or remember what they’ve read in school.

Solution
An app on which teachers set questions about the text being
studied, and students answer them in the style of a game on the
app. This allows teachers and students to track understanding
and progress, and it makes reading more interesting by
gamifying it. Students can also communicate directly with their
teacher in this less intimidating environment if they are
struggling.

Cool idea
Teachers can have class league tables for number of books read
and questions answered correctly.

One child did not attend school for 6 weeks but was still emailing in for details of
the next (AfG) tutorial he could follow.
Andre Bailey, Senior team, The Bridge Academy

By the very nature of the programme the students were able to think laterally and
focus on a subject that they felt would have a real life impact.
Tracy Langmead, Senior team, Lipson Community College


Educator training

In June 2012, AfG trained 149 new educators in London and Bolton. The training consisted of
taking educators through a shortened form of the course itself, punctuated by information sessions
and chances for educators to share their cumulative experience with the group. We received this
feedback:

 90% of educators felt the training met their expectations
 63% of educators felt ready to plan their first session
 97% of educators felt confident in their ability to teach their departmental colleagues how
to run the AfG course

Selected quotations from newly trained educators:

A very well structured course, well delivered.

I loved the amount of time dedicated to planning first, rather than going straight
into using App Inventor, as it brings critical thinking skills to students.

The teaching styles of how could you deliver the course was good. I also think the
resources, considering this is a free course, are really well thought out and easy to
use.

The theory and practical work was very useful and trainers were very helpful.

It was good to clearly see the course from the two different dimensions - as a
student going through the process to appreciate what this is like as well as from a
teacher/organiser/facilitator point of view. Having the opportunity to pitch an
idea with others was really helpful in order to realise how important it is to be
clear.

I am excited because I can see prospects of how it can be implemented in my
school.


Average cost per student/school

The average cost per school to deliver the AfG programme has decreased 27% from 2011/12 to
2012/1321. This can be explained by a 163% increase in the number of schools and more
streamlined delivery processes, despite taking on the cost of three new staff. There was a strong
drive to recruit many new quality schools into the AfG delivery network in 2012, and internal
procedures were refined and automated, allowing more efficient support.

Average cost per school
£12,693.51 = (27%)

£9,203.60

2011/12 2012/13

The average cost per student to deliver the AfG programme has decreased 52% from 2011/12 to
2012/1322. This can be explained by the expansion of the school network, an increased number of
students per school enrolled on the programme, and more streamlined delivery processes.

Average cost per student

£385.88 = (52%)

£184.07

2011/12 2012/13

21
Figures based on total organisational cost and total numbers of schools and students. This
includes some costs which are not directly related to course delivery, but enables CDI AfG to more
easily track this metric. Student numbers are taken from the 2012/3 school applications and costs
are taken from CDI AfG’s 2012/3 budget. Figures based on unaudited financial data.
22
As above.


Achievements in 2011/12

2011/12 has been a year of rapid changes for CDI AfG. We have achieved the following:

 Grown our school partnership network in size, geographical spread and range of
schools:
o from 38 schools and 1252 students in 2011/12 to 100 schools and 5000
students in 2012/13
o adding 3 schools from Scotland to the network, including from the north
Scottish coast
o Schools now include grammar schools, special schools, studio schools, a
pilot primary school and more FE colleges as well as comprehensive
schools/academies
 Designed and built (to be launched in Sept 2012) our new online platform to
facilitate students’, educators’ and experts’ engagement and progress through the
course
 Hosting the inaugural AfG awards at the Barbican Centre which saw 60 students
present their app designs to industry leaders in technology and business
 Added five new organisations to our list of sponsors
 Refreshed the education content on our resource site, making a suite of
improvements in quality and presentation
 Grown our public presence through a variety of channels, producing several videos
and articles showcased in the mainstream media (including articles on the BBC
news website), including a verbal mention by the Education Secretary as an
example of innovative new technology education practice
 Trained a larger number of educators at the training events (from 90 to 149)
 Implemented a framework for measuring the outcomes of the course on students
and educators
 Mapped the AfG course to existing curricula
 Hired a lead developer, a head of fundraising and work with some consultants to
expand our reach


Aims for 2012/3

Our aim for the next 12 months is to improve the course delivery and grow our community
of stakeholders. Our longer term aim is to become a leading global charity recognised for
revolutionising education focusing on personal and real-life learning through technology.
Specifically we hope to achieve the following in the next year:

 To improve the quality of course delivery to students by:
o growing a powerful community of educators and facilitating the sharing of
best practice, including using teaching experts to improve the quality of
educational resources
o increasing the frequency and quality of expert advice for students by using
our new platform to assist the virtual engagement between experts and
students, and to develop a suite of video-ed expert talks for students and
teachers to access
o incorporating more in-depth programming opportunities and support
materials within the course (improving Step 5)
 To grow our community of key stakeholders by:
o growing our school partnership network from 100 schools and 5000
students to 1000 schools and 50’000 students in 2014
o increasing the number of sponsors
o increasing the number of advisors and experts who share our vision and
can contribute their expertise to it
 To increase our presence in the worlds of education and technology by:
o attending global conferences to talk about the work we do
o hosting our own annual conference on technology, enterprise and
problem-centred education
o providing outcomes data on the impact of our model
o increase the size and quality of our social media presence
 To increase the size and quality of our internal team by:
o making quality new hires (marketing, finance, education)
o providing further training for growth


Sponsors and supporters

Any organisation that sponsors and partners with Apps for Good will gain insights
into a world they don’t understand and interact with, but that can have a
profound impact on their business.

Any organisation that takes the future of their business seriously should engage
with Apps for Good. This program has a direct impact now on the students, but
more importantly it fast tracks top motivated and capable students to create
commercially viable solutions for a shared future.

Strategic sponsors

Dell is proud to support the ‘Power to Do More’ category. The way students learn today is
undergoing a major transformation as schools move to a digital learning environment. Students
have great access and opportunities to access information, collaborate with their peers and
teachers and create and consume content with the aid of technology. Through Dell’s technology
solutions, youth have the chance to transform problem-solving and critical thinking exercises into
valuable work skills. By placing technology in the hands of students, they are given the tools to
enable them to maximize their learning ability and unleash their true potential to do more.
Jennifer Friday Jones, EMEA Giving Manager, Dell

Digital technology can play a big role in improving the life-chances of young people. Digital-making
activities, such as the Apps for Good programme, gives young people a foundation in
entrepreneurship, community involvement, problem-solving and teamwork; valuable skills that will
enable them to participate both socially and economically within their communities. Nominet Trust
has been a keen supporter of the Apps for Good programme since its inception and is delighted to
be sponsoring this year’s competition. It’s evident from the high calibre of entries that the young
people involved have learnt so much more than just coding and it is these life skills that are as
important as the end product itself.
Annika Small, CEO, Nominet Trust

New innovations in learning technologies should involve students, which is why Nesta is delighted to
be supporting the learning category in the Apps for Good Competition. The Apps for Good design
process puts students centre stage – they identify problems and generate solutions for issues that
matter to them, all the while learning valuable technical skills. We are also excited about the new
app which will be developed as a result of the competition, and which will be available to support
other students with their learning.
Jon Kingsbury Director, Creative Economy Programmes, NESTA


Apps for Good Awards sponsors

The Apps for Good project blends technology, creativity, investment and talent in a way that should
help inspire young people to develop apps that can make a real difference to their lives and the lives
of others. As the leading source of intelligent information for the world’s businesses and
professionals we believe that the right information in the right hands leads to amazing things, so
we’re delighted to sponsor the ‘Information’ category at the Apps for Good Awards.
Bob Schukai, Global Head of Mobile Technology, Thomson Reuters, and Tech City Investment
Organisation ambassador

By encouraging young people to be entrepreneurs and to use technology to enable social impact,
Apps for Good inspires individual action as well as connects talented leaders in a shared mission to
create change. Omidyar Network is proud to support a programme that embodies our mission to
create opportunity for people to improve their own lives and those of their communities, as well as
our focus on the potential of technology to present new solutions to the world’s toughest social
problems. CDI has thought through how to inspire action in young people in the UK, and we believe
this is one opportunity of many to work together on initiatives that can enable citizens to solve
problems in their own communities.
Stephen King, Partner, Omidyar Network

Fostering innovation is at the heart of everything we do. Inspiring today’s youth to think creatively
about the world around them and the technology that shapes the way we live our lives is crucial to
creating sustained innovation in our business. We are proud to support the travel category of the
Apps for Good Awards. We hope this will encourage more students to have the opportunity to bring
their ideas to life.
Stephen Bates, Managing Director, Research In Motion UK and Ireland

Barclaycard is delighted to sponsor the Money category of Apps for Good. Financial management is
a fundamental life skill that is often neglected. The creative use of new technology has a crucial role
to play helping young people to get to grips with managing their money, enabling them to build a
solid financial foundation for the rest of their lives.
Jeremy Reynolds, Corporate Affairs Director, Barclaycard


Lessons learned and what we are doing about them

Throughout 2011/12 CDI AfG has run several internal and external evaluations with the purpose of
identifying opportunities for improvement. The following list of lessons learned and current actions
is a summary snapshot as of summer 2012. (A more detailed evaluation is currently taking place to
identify actions for CDI AfG to take to improve the course for 2012/13.)

Tools
 There were problems with the hosting of App Inventor (it switched from Google to
MIT) and schools were negatively affected. Thomson Reuters generously offered
interim hosting for all the AfG schools, but the changes still caused difficulties for
schools. We have now checked that MIT’s hosting works for all newly trained
educators and will continue to monitor the situation for changes.

AfG platform
 There were problems with our initial platform build, including site overload. We
have now built a new online platform, under the guidance of experienced
consultants, which has undergone rigorous testing and is more successful at
meeting the needs of educators, students and CDI AfG quality monitoring.
 We have refined our use of the Education Zone on Confluence to reduce
complexity for educators, but will be retiring this service in future, in favour of
integrating all content and delivery onto the AfG platform.

Training
 Educators have called for more coding in the AfG course, especially now that it is being run
more as part of schools’ ICT curricula. We are now developing programming elements into
Step 5 and this will be a focus area in 2012/3. They will be trialled by a small number of
schools in 2012/13 and ready for full roll-out in 2013/14.
 Based on feedback from educators we made the training far more practical and this was
well received by 2012’s newly trained educators. We have plans to incorporate past
educators into training new educators and so to build deeper capacity within the
community of educators.

Monitoring/evaluation design
 We struggled to get educators’ attention and time for completing surveys. We have
streamlined the number of surveys and the questions in each in order to lessen the burden
on teachers. We will expand our use of focus groups to obtain more detailed information.
 There was a higher than expected number of bad quality (humorous/sarcastic) survey
responses from students. We believe that it is important to listen to students’ feedback
and so are working to simplify surveys and focus just on the outcomes which matter. An
ultimate goal may be to monitor student progress on an ongoing basis rather than through
retrospective surveys.

Recruitment
 We note, unsurprisingly, that the learning outcomes and enjoyment for students are highly
dependent on the quality of facilitation by the educator. Student teams which were
successful in reaching the finals of Apps for Good Awards and those who tended to say that
they enjoyed the course came from classes where the educator was highly engaged,
understood the fundamentals of the course well, and supported the students in achieving


their own goals. Therefore we have outlined a set of indicators for recruiting schools which
are likely to succeed and have been careful to recruit schools in which there is
understanding and commitment from all involved staff in the school, both at management
and teaching level.
 The channel which is most used to spread the word of AfG is word of mouth. This is also
the channel which is the best predictor of a successful new school application. We will be
investing energy in helping educators to better share AfG links amongst their networks.

Measuring/assessment
 Due to time constraints in schools, educators were overwhelmed with communications and
struggled to completed surveys. We have lowered the number and length of the surveys
and will increase the use of small focus groups.
 Due to the difficulty in measuring quantitative educational improvements in a problem-
solving course, we are increasing the focus on qualitative measures of outcomes, including
interviews with students and educator focus groups.

Facilitating communities
 Our group e-mail facility to help educators share information became overloaded and
overwhelmed educators’ inboxes. We have switched to an online forum for educators to
share information and have their questions answered.
 Our new platform will better facilitate the engagement of experts and will be launched in
autumn 2012.

Communication
 We were reminded of the lack of time for most educators, and this had an effect on deeper
partnerships and communication. We have now created opt-in working groups of
educators who have more time and expertise in certain areas (e.g. assessment, PR) and will
leverage these groups for the benefit of the whole educator community.

Providing resources to educators
 We took on board feedback from educators gleaned from the baseline survey about course
content and presentation, and have done a complete refresh of the materials. This will
continue throughout next year

Top student, educator and senior team suggestions
 More App Inventor support – we are now building training webinars
 A scheme of work and timeline of the year’s activities – we have created a scheme of work,
have made the course materials more easily navigable, and will be publishing an annual
calendar that educators need to know
 More expert support – the new platform will better facilitate this process
 AFGA guidance published earlier – this will be published in term 1 this year (rather than
term 3 last year)
 Show student examples – we have shared the best 2012 AFGA entries as examples for
2012/13 cohort, and linked them to their relevant content topics
 Curriculum and assessment support – we have shared with educators several mappings of
the AfG course to well-known curricula and given a basic framework for assessment

Course learning and enjoyment
 This is a summary of how educators felt about the success of their courses:


I have enjoyed the process of Apps for Good, I have learnt to work in a team with
people I wouldn't usually work with and share ideas effectively. I have learned
some valuable life skills which could help me in my future career.
AfG student, 14

Percentage of educators who think these course elements were
successful in terms of learning outcomes
74%
68% 65%
61%
55% 55% 52%
48%
35%
30%
23% 22%

5%

With AfG we can improve our skills to succeed in the finished product and this
gives us more of a push on to achieve something, whereas in class you just do it for
the sake of doing it.
AfG student, 13

Percentage of educators who think these course elements were
successful in terms of enjoyment
78%
74%
65% 65%
52%
48%
43% 43%
39%
30%
23%
17% 17%

I really enjoyed the AFG lessons more than regular ICT lessons because it enabled
us to be more creative, work in groups, listen effectively, be a team leader and be
more passionate. In contrast, regular ICT lessons are all about doing coursework
which is beneficial but students tend to forget what they wrote.
AfG student, 16


Quotations

I always thought apps and stuff were developed by experts or big companies; I
was surprised we could learn the skills to do it.
AfG student, 12

AfG course was challenging yet rewarding. AfG is a course that is ahead of its
time, students are placed at the centre. The support provided is fantastic and a
great team to work with. We had challenges at school implementing it, but in the
end it was very rewarding. We are now delivering AfG as our main offering in ICT
for year 8 students.
Patrick Dawkins, AfG educator, Featherstone High School

Get involved - it's fantastic! Apps for Good are doing amazing work. It's great to
see problem-solving elevated from a theoretical to a highly practical level, and
brought into context with something that students can relate to from their
everyday lives like this. And fantastic to see so many girls taking part - it bodes
very well for the future of tech in this country.
AfG expert

I’ve learned how to evaluate things and how to find out if an idea is good or going
to work or not.
AfG student, 13

I think this is programme is absolutely fantastic at bringing the relevance of IT to
the forefront of the students imagination; it’s great to see more pupils enjoying
learning. There are excellent learning materials and resources, and it’s great to
see the ‘buzz’ pupils had from speaking to real experts. The pedagogy is sound
and very refreshing. It has really helped me develop positive relationships with
pupils that have transcended the club into other areas of school life.
Mike Rowley, AfG Educator, Wordsley School

The opportunity to link every day experience with ICT is a really positive addition
to the traditional GCSE content. The link to industry is also potentially very
powerful experiential tool.
Andre Bailey, Senior team, Bridge Academy

I’m now better at taking advice on board.
AfG student, 14

I really enjoyed my experience with AfG, because it improved my public speaking
and team work skills, but it was really fun too!
AfG student, 13

www.appsforgood.org

A new way to teach the art of app-making

CDI Apps for Good
125-127 Mare Street
London
E8 3RH

www.appsforgood.org

Apps for Good: Impact report 2012

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