App Inventor Foundation Launches Regional Appathon in Taiwan
The highly anticipated competition comes to every high school in Taiwan this fall.
Los Angeles, CA—Today the App Inventor Foundation announced the launch of the Taiwan Regional Appathon, which will be hosted by the Taiwan Ministry of Education and the National Taiwan Normal University this fall. All students at the high school or junior high level in Taiwan are invited to participate in the competition.
The Regional Appathon program follows from the success of the MIT App Inventor Summer Appathon, an annual competition that invites people of all ages to build mobile apps for social good. This year, the App Inventor Foundation inaugurated the Regional Appathon program to expand the appathon experience to a global audience. By partnering with regional organizations across the world, this program presents a new opportunity for students to create apps in their own languages and showcase their projects to local judges who can better understand their work in the context of their respective cultures.
Taiwan was a natural candidate for the Regional Appathon program. With over 1 million unique users in 2022, it accounts for 12% of all App Inventor users across the world. The Taiwan Ministry of Education and National Taiwan Normal University have strong alignment with App Inventor’s mission and values, with existing curriculum goals for students to be able to solve everyday problems using technological tools. App Inventor is also included in Taiwan’s Middle School Information Technology textbook and other materials used at the middle school and high school levels.
From August through October 2023, the Regional Appathon organizers will host two-day camps in various cities throughout Taiwan to teach students about App Inventor and prepare them for the competition. On November 30, schools will select students to advance to the preliminary round of the appathon. On December 20, the organizing committee will announce the finalists from the preliminary round. The final round will take place on January 20-21, 2024, when students will present their work to judges at the regional showcase. The winners of the regional showcase will be invited to the MIT AI & Education Summit, which will be held at MIT in July 2024.
About App Inventor Foundation
The App Inventor Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower people of all backgrounds and ages to make apps that improve lives, uplift communities, and change the world. The App Inventor project was originally founded in 2007 by educators and researchers at MIT and Google who had the vision of enabling anyone—including those who may not think of themselves as coders—to create mobile apps for social good. The App Inventor Foundation was established by the same team in 2022 to expand upon the initiatives of the MIT App Inventor project by offering additional resources to teachers and students across the globe. To learn more, visit www.appinventorfoundation.org and connect with the App Inventor Foundation on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
Media Contact
Zareen Choudhury
Communications Manager
App Inventor Foundation
zareenc@appinventorfoundation.org