Designing Apps in Keynote

While people might still be thinking about Code Week… do not look past the Learning Centre project called Design a Simple App. This is perfect for younger learners who are not ready for Swift coding but want the experience of creating a functional app prototype. In present mode it behaves just like an app!

This project is in four stages and can be completed quite quickly. My year 5 and 6 students were very motivated at all stages of the project. This is why we spent much more than two hours on it. There are a lot of learning outcomes in the Keynote presentations skills,  such as the use of links between slides, websites and email addresses. 

We had a lot of fun pitching our apps to the class too. In addition to promoting our apps we gave quick speeches to the class which was a lot of fun. 

Useful Tips for Keynote Prototypes

• Get one button formatted nicely and then copy/paste it. This is to make sure they are consistent sizes and it looks better!
• Use the Keynote shape guide lines to line up buttons.
• Allow more chances for student feedback about their apps, this is how the real world works!
• Change your slidedeck settings (tap on the down arrow in the top left corner next to your file name); presentation options > presentation type > links only (so tapping a slide will not make it change, only buttons will).
• Rather than using links to other external videos, have students make their own video or GIF.
• Make your own example first, that way you know what problems students may face when they try.

Quick Pitch Template 

Hi, I’m ________ (student name). 

My product is ________(product name)

Have you ______________ ? (problem that product solves)

Well guess what? Now there’s an app for that! _______ (app name). 

So if you are ready to live without ________ (problem) you can buy _________(app name) for the app store now for only $________.

Design a Simple App