Free Android Online Course

The University of Maryland, College Park is offering a free course for anyone who is interested in Android. The course is called “Programming Mobile Applications for Android Handheld Systems,” offered through Coursera. Dr. Adam Porter, a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland and the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Studies (UMIACS) is conducting the course part of the schools IT program.  

Google Android led as the #1 smartphone platform with 52.2 percent platform market share. Google Sites ranked as the top mobile media property, while Facebook was the top individual app according the the latest report for the October 2013 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share released by comScore. Google offers a variety of services through the Android platform. Android developers and users can integrate the latest Google features to apps, such as sign-in, maps, and mobile payments.

Coursera

Handheld systems, such as smartphones and tablets are now the most common way for people to access and interact with computing services. The demand for application development skills is therefore growing at a breathtaking pace. These skills, however, are multi-­‐ faceted, requiring students to master computer science and engineering principles, to learn the details of specific mobile application platforms, and to design artistic and engaging user interfaces that respond to how, where and why handheld applications are used.

This course will cover the fundamental programming principles, software architecture and user experience considerations underlying handheld software applications and their development environments. To bring these concepts alive, the course will involve in-­‐depth, hands-­‐on examples, implemented in the Android Platform, the fastest growing segment of the handheld system user base. Students will apply these teachings, also using the Android Platform, in laboratory projects and in a large-­‐scale semester project.

*Coursera

Android development of applications is perpetually evolving and changing. Not simply because technology continues to get better and enables new capabilities, but because the way people interact and the meanings of each process and action continues to be interpreted and reinterpreted by different peoples, different groups, and different regions, creating new opportunities and insights about how the mobile technologies can add value to their lives. Having the right development initiatives in place will not only help your organization financially, it will affect areas such as customer engagement, retention, sales, marketing and create other beneficial opportunities.

The course lasts for eight weeks online; for approximately fifty dollars. Students will receive a certificate acknowledging their accomplishment. Dr. Porter states for students, “Students should already know how to program in Java, but are not expected to have studied mobile application development.”