Curriculum
Solving real-world problems
Students are most engaged when learning about topics they care about. We help them find those topics - then develop, test, and iterate solutions, preparing them for how problem solving is done at the best companies in the world.
Collaborative & hands-on
There will be whiteboarding, workshops, heads-down creation time, and a lot of hands-on interaction from industry professionals. In every digital project team there are many roles such as Designer, Developer, Project Manager, QA, and User Experience to name a few. Each student will explore these various roles to find the one that fits them the best.
Project Based Learning
Austin Spark League's setting is collaborative, not lecture based.
Students don't just learn a narrow strip of skills; instead we focus on developing a robust core of 21st-century competencies:
Problem Solving
Collaboration
Communication
Creativity
Innovation
Plus loads of fun too...
Programming / Coding / Engineering:
Wearables & smartwatches are the fastest growing category in technology. Every student gets a Pebble Smartwatch and will go home having created their first app on day one. The Pebble development platform is ideal for both beginners and advanced students.
This program isn't just for aspiring programmers. It's critical to understand code to be a productive member of any technology team.
Skills Learned:
C programming language
JavaScript (optional)
Mobile app development (optional)
Agile development processes
Design
Every member of a successful technology team needs to understand and respect design principles to develop great products.
Students will leverage Design Thinking to create great apps on their Pebble.
Skills Learned:
User experience (UX)
User interface design
Visual design
Rapid prototyping
Business Development
Just because you build it, doesn't mean the customers will come. Students will learn that successfully launching a product is about identifying a market need and building new solutions.
Skills Learned:
Lean product development
Entrepreneurship fundamentals
Market validation techniques
Project management