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Lesson 12.2: Designing Apps for Good

Welcome, inventors and community helpers! You’ve seen how technology can change the world. Now, it’s your turn. In this workshop, you’ll use your powerful empathy and problem-solving skills to design a simple app that could help someone in our school or community.

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this workshop, you’ll be able to:

  • Use your empathy to understand a problem from someone else’s point of view.
  • Brainstorm a simple, helpful app idea to solve a real problem.
  • Create a simple plan or sketch for what your app would look like and do.
  • Explain how your app idea could have a positive impact on your community.

Your “Tech for Good” Workshop Plan

Finding a Problem to Solve (15 minutes)

  • Let’s think like helpers. What are some small problems we see every day at school or in our neighborhood? (e.g., “It’s hard for new students to find their way around,” or “I wish there was a way to share leftover lunch food.”)
  • We’ll practice empathy, which means trying to understand how someone else feels. We’ll choose a problem and think about the people it affects.

Brainstorming Your Helpful App (20 minutes)

  • Now, let’s be inventors! How could a simple app help with the problem we chose?
  • We’ll brainstorm creative solutions. Remember, the goal is to be helpful, so even the simplest idea can be a great one!
  • On your design worksheet, you’ll plan your “App for Good.” Think about:
    • What is the app’s one main job? (Keep it simple!)
    • What would the main screen look like?
    • What would the user tap to make it work?

Pitch Your World-Changing Idea! (12 minutes)

  • It’s time to share your amazing ideas!
  • You’ll present your app design to a small group and explain how it would help people.
  • As an audience, our job is to be supportive and help the inventor make their idea even better.

You Can Change the World (3 minutes)

  • Let’s reflect on all the incredible, helpful ideas we came up with.
  • Programming isn’t just about making games—it’s about having the power to solve problems and help others. Your ideas today are the first step!

Your Inventor’s Toolkit

  • Worksheets to help us brainstorm problems and practice empathy
  • Design templates for sketching out your “App for Good” idea
  • Your amazing brain, full of creative and helpful ideas!
  • (Note: We are only designing the app today, not programming it, so no devices needed!)

How to Be a World-Changing Inventor

  • How well do you use empathy to think about the needs of others?
  • The Big Idea Test: Is your app idea simple, clear, and truly helpful?
  • Your final design will showcase your ability to think like a real innovator: creatively, empathetically, and with a desire to make a positive impact.

New Tech Words to Master

  • Empathy: Trying to understand and share the feelings of another person. It’s the most important skill for a designer!
  • User-Centered Design: Designing something by thinking first about what the user needs and wants.
  • Prototype: A simple sketch or plan of an idea that you can show to others. Your design worksheet is your prototype!