A Donegal national school and the Letterkenny Institute of Technology have joined ‘Forces’ to make a Star Wars Space Invaders App.
Over the last three weeks 5th and 6th class students at Malin Head National School, with the support of the Electronic and Mechanical Engineering Department at LYIT, have developed the App that can be played on Android smartphones and tablets.
This project has introduced these primary school students to the world of programming and to app development.
Diarmuid Walsh, School Principal, Malin Head N.S said , “5th and 6th Class pupils in St Mary’s National School have participated in an enjoyable introduction to programming with the guidance of LYIT Electronic Engineering lecturer Martin Bradley.
“The three workshop sessions allowed the pupils to engage in a variety of problem solving and critical thinking activities. The children involved in this project installed the game they designed and developed onto their own portable Android devices. This has been a fantastic learning experience.”
The ‘Star Wars Space Invaders App’ has many characteristics.
When the App is opened, the user will hear, “Welcome to the Malin Head National School Star Wars App”.
Additionally, when the app is running on android devices, the Star Wars theme tune is playing in the background. By moving your finger on the app the Character BB8, who plays the ‘goodie’ in the film, moves and when you tap BB8 he fires bullets at Kylo Ren, who plays the ‘baddie’ in the movie.
A firing sound can be heard when each bullet is fired. The score, from each game, is recorded at the bottom which can be reset at any time. The app also contains a photograph of Malin Head, as well as, the Malin Head National School crest.
Martin Bradley, Lecturer, LYIT added, “This project was a fun educational experience for the students and I was delighted to get an opportunity to connect with the students in such an engaging way. It provided the school students with a chance to get to grips with understanding programming and how to develop an app, and who knows, maybe some of these students will have their own Apps available on the Google Play Store in the future.”
May the Force be With You!