November 8, 2023
UPDATE
Apple’s Swift Student Challenge opens in February 2024 with a new category of featured winners
Introducing new Everyone Can Code resources to support educators in bringing app design and development closer to students
Apple’s Swift Student Challenge has given thousands of students around the world the opportunity to showcase their creativity and build real-world skills that they will use in their careers and beyond. Starting in 2020, students participating in the challenge have joined a worldwide community of developers using Swift — the same programming language used by professionals — to create the next wave of groundbreaking apps. The next challenge will open in February 2024 and will include a new category awarding 50 featured winners who will be nominated for featured entries.
Interest among students who want to learn coding and app development is widespread, and these skills are considered highly desirable, regardless of whether students intend to work in the technology sector or not. In an independent survey of more than 1,000 students in the United States in September, YPulse researchers found that 92 percent of students believe it is important to learn to code, and 94 percent believe coding is an important skill for the future job market. Additionally, students recognize the multiple benefits of knowing how to code and build apps, including boosting creativity, solving local and global problems, and ultimately making the world a better place.
Awareness and access to resources for coding and app development are key for students — while the survey found that 85 percent of students have not yet taken steps but would like to learn to code, 48 percent don’t know where to start. Apple’s Swift Playgrounds app is designed to take students from their first line of code to building their first app in Swift. It’s a great tool for beginners to explore, learn, discover and experiment with coding and app development on iPad and Mac.
“At Apple, we believe that anyone can learn to code and build apps, and we’re proud to support and recognize aspiring student developers each year at the Swift Student Challenge,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations and Education & Enterprise Marketing. “We know students are eager to learn programming skills to solve challenges they care about — whether it’s building an app to help peers identify mental health resources or supporting sustainability efforts on campus — and they want to know how to get started. Apple is releasing new coding resources for students and teachers, working with our community partners on dedicated Swift programming, and sharing advance notice of the 2024 Swift Student Challenge timeline. We can’t wait to see the playgrounds app students submit next year.”
To help bring app development closer to students, Apple works with educators around the world. To support Swift Playgrounds teaching for educators, four new Anyone Can Code projects provide step-by-step resources to guide students in developing essential skills as they create apps that solve problems that interest them.
Tina Lewis is a seventh grade science teacher in the Montgomery Public Schools in Alabama, an Apple Learning Coach and the new Apple Distinguished Educator Class of 2023. She also leads the coding club at Brewbaker Middle School. “As a teacher, it’s important to create a safe space where my students can be heard,” Lewis said. “With coding, you can literally create that space, simultaneously sparking students’ curiosity and building resilience in the face of failure.”
Lewis taught herself to code in 2021 using Everyone Can Code and Swift Playgrounds educator resources on iPad with her students. One of her students went on to participate in the Swift Student Challenge in 2022. “I’m motivated by the creativity of my students and by being the type of teacher who can turn that light on for my kids,” Lewis said.
In addition to working with educators around the world, Apple supports educational partners in 99 countries and regions through its community education initiative, such as the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3). NC3 provides hands-on professional development opportunities to prepare community and technical college and high school instructors to teach application development with Swift. This year, the organization is committed to helping more students submit their app projects for the 2024 Swift Student Challenge.
“The Swift Student Challenge is a springboard for young talent, and we’re building a path for their success,” said Roger Tadajewski, CEO of NC3. “App development training with Swift equips faculty with the skills to guide students, foster an environment that celebrates curiosity, fosters creativity, and gives every idea a chance to flourish.”
New Anyone can code projects
Apple’s new “Anyone Can Code” projects provide step-by-step resources to help educators guide students through each step of their coding and app development journey and develop essential skills as they create apps that solve problems they care about.
Anyone Can Code Projects can be integrated into any subject area and are perfect for the classroom or coding clubs. Students are introduced to SwiftUI — a modern way to build user interfaces with surprisingly little code — and use the latest technologies to build apps in Swift Playgrounds. As they code, students can see their app changing in real time with App Preview.
The four new projects available today include:
- Design a simple application: Students can prototype an app in Keynote to learn the basics of app design, practice rapid prototyping, and gather feedback, following the same steps as professional developers.
- Build with arrays and shapes: Students can take their first steps in building an app in Swift Playgrounds and code a self-portrait or artwork using SwiftUI to learn the basics of UI design.
- Create custom shapes: Students can take the app interface to the next level by designing a shape, learning how to plot coordinates, and coding a custom shape using SwiftUI and an example About Me app within Swift Playgrounds.
- Design an app icon: Students can learn and apply app design principles to create a unique and memorable app icon that conveys an idea; practice rapid prototyping; collect feedback; and upload the icon to Swift Playgrounds to become part of the app.
Anyone Can Code Projects with Swift Playgrounds make teaching and learning to code, design and develop apps on iPad and Mac easier than ever before – perfect for moments celebrating coding skills around the world this season, including today’s STEAM Day in the US, as and Computer Science Education Week and Hour of Code in December, which are celebrated in 180 countries and regions.
New resources for teaching coding and app development with Swift Playgrounds, including four new Anyone Can Code projects, are now available in the Apple Education Community, where educators can find resources for any skill level, connect with peers, and more. Swift Playgrounds 4.4 is now available and includes support for Swift 5.9 and SDKs for iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma.
Students will be invited to submit their app playgrounds to the Swift Student Challenge during a three-week window in February 2024. Sign up at developer.apple.com to be notified when the challenge opens. Out of 350 total winners, 50 featured winners will be invited to Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California next summer, where they will have the opportunity to network with each other and the Apple team. All winners will receive a one-year membership in the Apple Developer Program, which allows them to submit apps to the App Store and receive support from Apple.
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