New Zealand Students Create Prototype Samoan Language App Using iPad

Apple has today spotlighted the story of how students at Bromley School in Christchurch, New Zealand, used the iPad and Keynote to create a prototype Samoan language app for younger learners.

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Since introducing the iPad, “Bromley students are setting the bar for what’s possible when you inspire the minds of young learners,” notes Apple. At Bromley School, every teacher and middle school student has their own iPad. There’s an Apple TV in every classroom, and a fleet of Macs for coding.

“We challenge our students to think big — we want them to make a positive difference in the world,” says Principal Scot Kinley.

When their much-loved Samoan language teacher Mele Togiaso moved to a local high school, many of the students wanted to continue to learn the language of the Samoan Islands, but no replacement teachers were available. 

“We decided to create a prototype for an app called Let’s Learn Samoan, because all of the kids at our school have access to iPad and we wanted it to be accessible to everyone,” says Jeremiah Laufiso, a year 5 student.

Togiaso used the App Design Journal from the Everyone Can Code curriculum, available as a free download from Apple, to help guide the group through the app development process.

After brainstorming ideas and creating wireframes for their app, the students divided into content creation teams, sketching illustrations with Apple Pencil, creating animations in Keynote, and recording voice overs using the iPad’s built-in microphone.

In September 2020, the students presented their business case, demonstrated the app prototype, and answered questions from the crowd.

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