RoadMAPPs to Careers: A New Approach to Mobile Apps Education featuring a Mapp for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students

RoadMAPPS to CAREERS将帮助解决美国经济中预计的重大技能缺口。随着智能手机、智能设备、平板电脑和可穿戴设备不断改变我们沟通、做生意和获取信息的方式，对移动应用程序的需求呈指数级增长。这种需求的爆炸性增长转化为巨大的技能缺口——移动应用程序（app）开发职位空缺比熟练的应用程序开发人员要多。美国劳工统计局（Bureau of Labor Statistics）预测，到2020年，大约有8.2万个移动应用程序开发人员的工作岗位需要大专学历的求职者。RoadMAPPS to Careers项目将帮助大专学生为移动应用开发人员岗位做好准备，这些岗位的薪酬远高于全国平均水平，保持较高的就业率，并提供一系列的晋升机会。这门为期5个学期的课程是由罗切斯特理工学院（RIT）九所学院之一的国家聋人技术学院（NTID）开发并最初提供的。课程内容和教育策略适合所有学生，无论听力或耳聋，都可以为少于五个学期的课程量身定制。然而，NTID将采用针对失聪和听力障碍学生需求的特定教学技术。该项目还将通过职业意识材料、夏令营活动和双学分课程，为初高中学生创造进入该项目的途径。广泛的课程范围将技术课程与商业课程、通识教育课程和工作经验相结合，以培养在当今全球经济中取得成功所需的技术、社会和工作技能。学生将通过指导、动手练习、实验室和学习支持社区活动来学习。他们还需要完成必要的合作工作经验，并完成一个顶级项目，在这个项目中，他们将设计和开发一个可发布的移动应用程序。尽管其他大学也提供移动应用程序开发方面的课程，但RoadMAPPS to Careers将引入一种创新的跨平台方法，特别适合副学士学位课程。学生将学习编程概念，并获得创建在多个平台（iOS， Android和Windows）上运行的移动应用程序所需的技能，而不会因为每个平台学习不同的编程语言而不知所措。跨平台技术的领先开发者（Xamarin）正在与RIT合作开发该项目。学生还将有机会获得c#和Xamarin认证，这是该领域的标准。

RoadMAPPS to CAREERS will help solve a significant projected skills gap in the US economy. As smart phones, smart things, tablets and wearable devices continue to change the way we communicate, do business and access information, the demand for mobile applications has grown exponentially. This explosive increase in demand translates into a large skills gap - there are simply more mobile application (app) development job openings than there are skilled application developers to fill them. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that there will be approximately 82,000 mobile app developer jobs for candidates with associate degrees by 2020. The RoadMAPPS to Careers project will prepare associate degree students for mobile app developer positions that pay well above the national average, maintain a high rate of employment, and offer a range of advancement opportunities. The 5-semester curriculum is being developed and initially offered at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), one of the nine colleges of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The program content and educational strategies of the curriculum are appropriate for all students, whether hearing or deaf, and can be tailored for programs requiring less than five semesters. However, specific teaching techniques tailored to the needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing students will be employed at NTID. The project will also create a pathway to the program for middle and high school students through career awareness materials, summer camp activities and dual credit courses. The broad scope of the curriculum will integrate technical courses with business courses, general education courses, and work experiences in order to cultivate the technical, social, and work skills needed for success in today's global economy. Students will learn through instruction, hands-on exercises, labs, and learning support community activities. They will also fulfill a required cooperative work experience and complete a capstone project where they will design and develop a publishable mobile app. Although other colleges are offering programs in mobile app development, RoadMAPPS to Careers will introduce an innovative cross-platform approach that is especially appropriate for an associate degree program. Students will learn the programming concepts and acquire the skills needed to create mobile apps that run on multiple platforms (iOS, Android and Windows) without being overwhelmed by learning a different programming language for each platform. A leading developer of cross-platform technology (Xamarin) is partnering with RIT on the project. Students will also have the opportunity to achieve C# and Xamarin certification, which are standards in the field.