Giovanna Romero, Education Associate at the App Inventor Foundation, is leading a two-day workshop as part of the Ibero Ingenio 2025 activities.

She is guiding participants through foundational data science principles, exploring the ethical implications of AI across media—from fine art to Spotify recommendations—and introducing key concepts in data governance and visualization, using MIT App Inventor for hands-on practice. 

Learn more: https://congresossuj.mx/congresos/ibero-ingenio-2025/

Calling all Texas Grade 6–12 Educators! No tech experience required!

Join David Petty and Anqi Zhou from the App Inventor Foundation for a 4-day, all-expenses-paid professional development workshop—plus a $700 stipend and 28 Texas CPE credit hours upon completion—from July 21-24, 2025, at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s new College of AI, Cyber and Computing. 

Limited spots available! Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply by May 29, 2025.

Learn more: https://aif.to/2025-tx-ppw

The App Inventor Foundation team is leading multiple sessions at the MIT AI & Education Summit, including:

Day 1: 

• Natalie Lao is co‑moderating the “Building AI Literacy with UNESCO's AI Competency Frameworks: Global Panel” with Kelly Shiohira, Director of the Global Science of Learning Education Network. The panel features Catalina Rata (Executive Director, UiPath Foundation), Rishi Mazumdar (Educational Technology Architect, Quest Alliance), and John Masla (Assessment Specialist, MIT STEP Lab).

• Tony Huang is leading the “UI/UX Design Crash Course for Hack the Climate Challenge” workshop.

Day 2: 

• Finalists from the Global AI Hackathon and Japan Regional Appathon are presenting at the “Global AI Hackathon Final Showcase and Award ceremony.” 

• David Petty is leading an educator training workshop on UNESCO's AI Competency Frameworks and MIT App Inventor's data science and AI curriculum unit titled “StoryGPT -

  Exploring Large Language Models.”

• Angie Zhou is leading an educator training workshop on UNESCO's AI Competency Frameworks and MIT App Inventor's data science and AI curriculum unit titled “The Sound of Data - Exploring Music Recommendation and Data.”

Day 3: 

• David Petty and Angie Zhou are giving a live demo of UNESCO's AI Competency Framework and MIT App Inventor's data science and AI curriculum.

Natalie Lao and David Petty from the App Inventor Foundation are presenting “Ethical Generative AI Meets App Inventor” at the CSTA 2025 Annual Conference.

This one-hour interactive session introduces a human-centered, ethics-first approach to teaching generative artificial intelligence (GAI)—aligned with UNESCO’s AI Competency Frameworks for students and teachers. Designed to foster critical thinking and inclusive engagement, the project-based curriculum emphasizes responsible access to and development of GAI.

Participants will get hands-on experience with MIT App Inventor—a free, open-source mobile app platform that now includes GAI components like ChatBot and ImageBot. The session features sample curricular units that promote a ‘human-centered mindset,’ helping students explore the ethical and societal impacts of AI as they move from learning to building socially conscious apps. No prior experience with App Inventor is required.

Learn more: https://conference.csteachers.org/event/3d53ee2e-79b8-48ae-bae2-d8a670da4b74/summary

David Petty, Education Program Manager for the App Inventor Foundation, will be hosting the “Ethical Generative AI with App Inventor” workshop at the WeTeach_CS 2025 Summit. This two‑day professional development conference, hosted by WeTeach_CS under UT Austin’s EPIC program, brings together 600 K‑12 computer science and cybersecurity educators, advocates, administrators, PD providers, university instructors, and policymakers.

Learn more: https://weteachcssummit2025.sched.com/event/1yO5K/ethical-generative-ai-with-app-inventor

Natalie Lao from the App Inventor Foundation will deliver a Community Keynote on “UNESCO AI Competency Framework and Blockly in K‑12.”

Evan Patton from the MIT App Inventor Lab will present a Technical Talk on “Unforking MIT App Inventor: Stories from the Trenches” and lead a workshop titled “(AI)²: Deploy AI in Your Own Apps with MIT App Inventor.”

Learn more: https://www.blocklysummit.com/

David Kim from MIT App Inventor is presenting at CHI 2025, taking place in Yokohama, Japan, from April 26 to May 1, 2025.

His presentation features the paper “Aptly: Making Mobile Apps from Natural Language,” co-authored with Evan W. Patton, Ashley Granquist, Robin Liu, Arianna Scott, Jennet Zamanova, and Harold Abelson.

The paper introduces Aptly, a platform designed to democratize mobile app development—especially for young learners. Aptly integrates a Large Language Model (LLM) with App Inventor, allowing users to create apps using natural language. The user’s description is translated into code that corresponds with App Inventor’s visual programming blocks. A preliminary study with high school students highlighted the platform’s usability and potential. Participants' prior programming experience shaped their interaction with Aptly, and many expressed a shift in perspective on programming accessibility and the creative role of AI.

Learn more: https://chi2025.acm.org

Evan Patton and José Dominguez from MIT App Inventor and the App Inventor Foundation are giving a talk on App Inventor extensions and co-facilitating a workshop with John Maloney on Microblocks, App Inventor, and IoT.

Learn more: https://fosdem.org/2025/

App Inventor Foundation Student Ambassador Tony Huang leads the K12 AI Initiative at the GenAI Summit, a program designed specifically for K-12 students. The initiative features panel sessions on MIT App Inventor and student perspectives on AI, as well as a student poster presentation.

Learn more: https://genaisummit.ai/

Organized by the Taiwan Ministry of Education, the Taiwan International Digital Learning Forum aims to bring together policymakers and scholars from across the globe to discuss and share their insights on digital learning, educational big data, and AI literacy, highlighting practices and trends in these fields on an international scale. Dr. Natalie Lao of the App Inventor Foundation and Dr. Evan Patton of MIT App Inventor are attending as guest speakers at the Forum.

David Kim from the MIT App Inventor team presents a paper titled “App Planner: Utilizing Generative AI in K-12 Mobile App Development Education.” IDC is a conference on inclusive child-centered design, learning, and interaction.

Read the paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.15182

Learn more about IDC: https://idc.acm.org/2024/

Evan Patton and Mark Friedman of the App Inventor team attend the annual Blockly Summit at Google to connect with other developers and educators involved in the block-based coding space. Evan leads a workshop on Aptly, demonstrating how App Inventor is incorporating generative AI into block-based coding to allow users to generate apps using natural language prompts.

Learn more: https://rsvp.withgoogle.com/events/blockly-summit-2024/

Rupa Shah of the App Inventor Foundation serves as a judge for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition, in which middle and high school students develop innovative STEM solutions to address critical issues in their local communities.

Learn more: https://www.samsung.com/us/solvefortomorrow/

Dr. Natalie Lao and Prerna Ravi lead a workshop on “Generative AI Apps for Responsible Community Engagement” at #HouseOfCode, a national event where winners of the Congressional App Challenge present their apps on Capitol Hill, Washington DC. The workshop is designed to educate students, teachers, and other educational stakeholders on the responsible development and deployment of generative AI technologies through hands-on experience using App Inventor. Through the workshop activities, participants will generate art and text using AI tools and consider their applications in empowering their communities. They will also discuss the importance of creating AI solutions that are ethical, transparent, and beneficial to society while fostering innovation and creativity. Adults will receive guidance on how these activities can be integrated within K-12 settings.

Learn more: https://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/students/houseofcode/