Abre App-a-thon Enables Aspiring Student Developers to Create Software Apps to Solve Problems for Their Schools

CINCINNATI, Jan. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- When leading education management platform provider Abre.io was first created, a unique element of their strategy was to allow students to develop software apps to solve problems they have experienced in school using Abre. To promote this philosophy, Abre has been hosting App-a-thons for the past year, where students come together to define problems then design and build an Abre app as a solution.

To date, Abre has held four App-a-thons and is embarking on another year of events with the goal to reach more students. The next events will take place on January 18th at Loveland High School (1 Tiger Trail, Loveland, OH) followed by Indian Hill High School (6865 Drake Rd, Cincinnati, OH) on February 9th.  Abre is working on potential App-a-thons in the Cleveland and Atlanta areas for 2019 as well.

"Abre is built on the fundamental premise that when technology meets education some great things can happen," said Zach Vander Veen, Co-Founder and Vice President of Instruction at Abre.  "And, when students who see things that technology can address in their own education experiences come together in a creative environment to use technology to solve challenges , even greater things can happen."

Organizations, schools or companies, can apply to sponsor App-a-thons on the Abre website. Once an organization is chosen, local students are then invited to participate. Abre will help facilitate the App-a-thon with the sponsoring organization.  Typically, App-a-thons are day-long events that have several components:

1. Who are We and What is Abre ? The first step is a tour of the sponsoring organization followed by an introduction to the open Abre platform the participants will use to create education apps.  This includes a discussion of open source software and Material Design theories and how its used in Abre apps.
2. Define Problems & Brainstorm Solutions ? Forming groups, the students brainstorm problems they face as students.  From there, they begin conceptualizing solutions that has the potential to solve their particular challenge.
3. Wireframing ? An App-a-thon is an open invitation to be creative regardless of the skill levels.  Wireframing is an important part of the design process.  Abre introduces students to the concept, moving from idea to putting screens and workflow on paper.  Not only is wireframing a key first step, it is very approachable at all skill levels.
4. Git, Install, and Run ? Next, participants learn to use GitHub, a popular repository for managing code for a project.  Students use GitHub to access the code for the Abre core and have access to a basic starter app. Within 10 minutes they are reviewing code, making tweaks, and working on their app.
5. Present ? After a very exciting and demanding day, the App-a-thon students pitch their projects to representatives from the sponsor, Abre team members and the other student teams. Students get asked questions and are offered suggestions to help build a path toward completing their projects.

"We were all blown away by the quality of the students and the ideas they generated in our first several App-a-thons," said Damon Ragusa, co-founder and CEO of Abre.  "One of our missions is to give back to the teachers and students and not just profit from an industry that supports them.  For that reason we are planning additional App-a-thons and encouraging other organizations to host them.  Our goal is to export the framework from App-a-thons throughout the country and to develop more formal curriculum to continuously deliver a quality project-based learning opportunity for students."

According to Ragusa, Abre will be developing an online Abre marketplace for students to distribute their apps to schools. "We love the idea that students can get excited about coding and contribute apps that schools can use.  As an open source platform we will share the fruits of this labor with everyone in the learning community."

For further information on the Abra App-a-thons, please visit the www.abre.io/appathon on the Abre website www.abre.io.

About Abre

Abre.io provides an education management platform that delivers a growing number of connected apps designed for schools who use the web to manage information and to deliver instructional content.  Abre apps are built to simplify managing school and delivering instruction.  School districts benefit from Abre by reducing professional development time for teachers, freeing up data to support improving performance and saving money.   Abre.io manages a community edition based on an open source project of the same name developed at Hamilton City School District (OH). https://abre.io/ Follow Abre on Twitter @abreplatform.

SOURCE Abre.io Inc.