The Mobile App Development Track of MIT FutureMakers is designed to concentrate students’ curiosity, social cohesion and cultural knowledge as a frequent consumer of mobile apps toward becoming a creator of mobile apps, as well. This free, six-week, fully online program, running from July 1st through August 9th, 2025, brings together high school students as a group of highly motivated learners who want to develop new skills in working with MIT App Inventor, a completely free yet powerful platform for designing and creating fully functional mobile apps that have built-in AI capabilities to explore their real-world applications. Students will also develop essential career competencies, such as computational action, critical thinking, teamwork, project management, and effective communication, preparing them for future opportunities in AI-driven fields.
As a FutureMakers participant in the Mobile App Development with AI Track, you will learn how modern mobile apps use AI to create face filters like Snapchat or connect to sophisticated Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT to respond to a prompt within your own app.
You’ll see how mobile AI technology can bring new capabilities to users without their laptops, for example, and enable people in remote locations to connect to modern AI tools such as ChatGPT. We’ll learn how to dream up real-world applications through a structured product development approach where you will collaborate with your teammates to eventually compete in a fast-paced entrepreneurial Create-a-thon by the end of the six weeks!
Self-paced learning: Weeks 1 to 4
During the first four weeks, students will be guided by mentors through multiple virtual sessions per week. These sessions will kickstart the program by introducing how to build a mobile app using MIT App Inventor and ensuring students have a solid understanding before diving into hands-on work. Students will form teams early on in the program and will be paired with a mentor who will provide guidance and troubleshooting support as they independently explore the program topics. Some topics in this program are mandatory and others are optional, allowing students to manage their learning effectively and practice prioritization and time management, much like real-world problem-solving.
Create-a-Thon: Weeks 5 and 6
By the end of the program, students will participate in a one-week Design Jam Competition, where they work together as a team to ideate, design, and present a solution as a group on specified requirements and scenarios, leading to a one-week Create-a-Thon. The Create-a-Thon allows groups of students to apply their learning in a project of their choice, where each team, supported by their mentor, fully develops an AI-based solution to a real-world problem and present their solutions. This hands-on experience will prepare students to think critically about AI’s role in the world and inspire them to create their own AI-driven solutions.
Requirements
This program is free for high school participants based in the United States. Students will need to allocate at least 14 hours per week for this program, and are required to have access to a laptop with broadband internet access and wifi, either at home or in a public space.