24 October 2023

Apps For Good: How students can impact Industry, Climate and Social issues using free of charge courses

Written by

Jodie Campbell

At Apps for Good, we believe that all young people should have the opportunity to shape their future with technology. We don’t just teach them how to code - we empower them to take action on the issues they care about most.

We work with schools to provide free computing courses to students, giving teachers ready-made education content, so young people from all backgrounds can develop the computing, digital literacy and essential skills to change their world for the better.

We’re an education charity and we’re proud to partner with leading brands including Spotify, Google and OVO Foundation, to keep our course content 100% free of charge to schools, as well as giving students the opportunity to directly benefit from their industry expertise.

You can choose between one of our two thematic courses. In just 7 sessions, students work together in teams to create a prototype app for a cause they care about. Please click on the buttons below for the resources -

Innovate for Climate Change App for Social Action

Innovate for Climate Change

There’s no bigger challenge young people will inherit than climate change. They need green skills for future jobs if we’re to successfully tackle the climate crisis. We know teachers care about climate change - research from Teach the Future shows that 9 out of 10 teachers think climate change education should be compulsory in schools, however only 3 in 10 teachers feel equipped to teach it.

Innovate for Climate Change helps tackle this challenge. With detailed training videos, step-by-step instructions and our new independent learning eWorkbook, non-specialist teachers can feel confident to pick up and deliver. Don’t listen to us though, listen to one of last year’s Innovate for Climate Change students:

"Just learning about climate change in schools isn't enough. Kids have a short attention span. When we're in a classroom and the teacher is just talking about this (climate change), we're not going to pay attention as much. If we really have to do something about it - that's a really smart way to learn. We have a personal attachment to our app and really do care about it." - Student, Lea Manor High School

App for Social Action

We believe in technological justice, where tech innovation is designed to benefit society. We have embedded our approach in our brand new course, App for Social Action, which is the successor of our long-standing App Development course. Students learn about the power of computing, and specifically programming, to effect social change. With all of the same materials and support as Innovate for Climate Change, it has never been easier to bring social action into the classroom.

Industry Engagement

A core pillar of any Apps for Good course is the connection to industry volunteers. Embedded within the course are free Industry Engagement sessions, booked at a time and date of your choosing. Students have the opportunity to pitch their app ideas to people working within the Digital Economy, receiving detailed feedback and ideas for development.

At the end of the course, all students are invited to join our annual Showcase - a celebration of their hard work. Each team receives personalised industry feedback, and selected teams are invited to pitch to a panel of industry judges. Have a look at our Showcase teams from the last academic year.

“I say as someone who is returning to the programme and is a non-specialist teacher, getting industry expert and business input as well as teacher expertise is a real positive. To support young people to get both. The expert form was easy to fill in and then at the drop of a hat it was all organised for us. The expert session was the best session I’d say - pitching to an expert is invaluable.” - Richard Gledhill, Dr Challoner’s School for Boys

Looking for further information?

Whether you’re a CAS Leader who’s looking to share resources with your area, a Computing teacher looking for something new to deliver or a non-specialist teacher with a passion for climate/social action, we’d love to hear from you! Get in touch by emailing us at education@appsforgood.org and we’d love to chat further.