Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The Computer Science and Engineering department at the University of North Texas

The Computer Science and Engineering department at the University of North Texas (http://www.cse.unt.edu/) has begun its second year of CSCE 3410 - Advanced Programming: Android Devices. The class has been very popular, with each student responsible for creating an app over the course of the semester. Very few restrictions are placed on what the students can create, and several really good ideas have come from the class, including phone silencing based on location, communication with motorcycle helmets, and physics based games, with several apps available in the Market.

I try to approach the course from both a technology and business perspective, focusing not just on the code, but on interface, usability and usefulness. We have recently focused on apps for specific industries that students may have experience with outside the classroom based on their work or hobbies. We also frequently have industry visitors who share their needs for mobile technologies, and students have formed several partnerships with outside ventures and later secured jobs with these companies. The course has served to greatly strengthen the school's ties to industry.

The University of North Texas also has a very active set of game programming courses (http://larc.unt.edu/), and many students port their games to the Android platform.
I also created a small app to use as a demo and help the students learn Android programming:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mobileworldrecords.mwr

posted Ryan Garlick, PhD
Principal Lecturer, Advisor
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
University of North Texas

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