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Students from Latymer Upper School, London, launch award-winning apps onto the market
On Thursday 4 February 2016, two teams of students from Latymer Upper School, having been announced as winners in the national Apps for Good Awards 2015, will launch their apps onto the market at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London.
The App Launch will see the two winning apps become available on the Google Play Store. GardenKing is sponsored by Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and won the ‘Sustainable Communities’ award. The app created by Isaac (13), Clodagh (12), Sophie (13) and Edward (13) helps users identify different plants in their garden and how to care for them. MySoundClash won TalkTalk’s ‘Connected Communities’ category at the Awards. The app, created by John, Adam, Isabela and Elizabeth (all 13) allows users to connect multiple phones to get a bigger sound.
The GardenKing team has spent the past few months working with Gourmet Pixel, an independent UK app development studio, and the MySoundClash team have partnered with creative technology consultancy, Codelegs, to have their app prototypes built professionally.
Brian Matthews, Head of Computing says: “I’m incredibly proud of what the teams have achieved throughout the course. They came up with innovative ideas that they really believed in, and have worked extremely hard to bring these ideas to life. It’s really exciting to see the finished products launched on Google Play. Now to see what happens next!”
Their apps’ full development, follows the students’ participation in the Apps for Good course, a programme provided free to teachers, to transform technology education; empowering students to develop digital and key 21st century skills and to use these skills to create innovative solutions to the problems they care about.
Debbie Forster, co-CEO of Apps for Good explains, “Our mission is to power a generation to change their world with technology and help them thrive in a tech driven future. We are absolutely delighted to be launching these seven apps and are very proud of the students behind them; they are outstanding examples of what our young people can achieve.”
David Edmonds, Chairman of the London Legacy Development Corporation, says: “Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a centre for innovation and sustainability so we were delighted to support the Apps for Good Awards 2015, encouraging students to use technology to solve problems. GardenKing is a very worthy winner; we hope that people will use it to learn more about the green spaces near to their homes and explore the diverse and vibrant plant life on the Park.”
Jessica Lennard, Corporate Affairs, TalkTalk Group commented "We’re proud to be a longstanding supporter of the Apps for Good programme and are very impressed by both the MySoundClash app and the students behind its development. It’s a great example of what TalkTalk Connected Communities stands for.”
The event also sees Apps for Good celebrate its first five years in schools. Since first launching in 2010 at one school with 25 students, the course has been delivered to over 50,000 students in more than 1,000 schools across the UK and internationally.
The seven winning apps will be unveiled to invited guests and press from 5.30pm on 4 February at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.