Free Android Dev Course Will be Taught by NJIT Students in Spring 2021
This spring semester, NJIT students will have the chance to participate in a free Android mobile app development course backed by major tech companies including Amazon, Cognizant, Facebook, and Microsoft, along with retail giant Walmart.
The course is run by CodePath.org, a nonprofit organization that offers free software development courses with the goal of making computer science education more equitable, inclusive and effective.
The course will be taught by three students — Reynaldo Barte, a computer science major from Jersey City; Samuel Carlos, a computer science and mathematics major from Metuchen; and Vineet Sridhar, a computer science major from Woodridge. Their curriculum was developed for CodePath by top Silicon Valley engineers and is open-source.
Students will participate in project-based exploration into Android mobile app development, focusing on the design and implementation of RESTful API clients. Working in small teams, they will apply their skills to design and build an original application from the ground up, and present it in a live demonstration at the final Demo Day event. Students will receive one-on-one coaching and mentorship from professional engineers, and also participate in a virtual career fair matching them with recruiters from top companies for job interviews.
"We are very excited to see CodePath coming to our campus,” said Baruch Schieber, chair of the computer science department at NJIT’s Ying Wu College of Computing. “CodePath complements the deep foundational knowledge in computing that we impart on our students with a practical skill set through no-cost courses in ‘hot’ areas in computing technology. This will no doubt make them even more attractive to potential employers.”
NJIT’s student instructors were selected after a comprehensive application and interview process. They are currently completing an eight-week training course covering the curriculum and best practices for effective teaching.
Barte said he is eager to get into the virtual classroom when the course begins on January 20. "This course is a must for students who want to know more about Android development and provide them the foundations to create their own applications,” he said. “I am excited and honored to be among the first cohort of instructors."
The course will be held each Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. for 12 weeks. It will be taught remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Students can apply at https://codepath.org/classes, choosing Android "apply as student" and selecting NJIT as their location.
Upon completion of the course, students will come away with the app they created, continued access to mentors and representatives from the CodePath sponsoring organizations and the course curriculum, in addition to the new development skills and know-how gained over their 12 weeks.
Anyone with questions about the spring 2021 Android mobile app development course are encouraged to contact Schieber or visit the CodePath website for more information. To see examples of recently created apps, visit CodePath’s Spring 2020 Android Demo Day website.