On the 15th of December 2011, the Android Developer Relations team at Google launched the beta version of Android Training — a collection of classes to help developers build better Android apps using best practices in a variety of framework topics.
This is a move in the right direction by Google, especially since many Smartphone users perceive Android apps to be inferior to Apple’s iOS. This initiative targeted at developers will help to raise the quality of Android apps developed in the public realm. Android Training will be led by the Android Developer Relations team. As of now the program has 11 basic classes.
1. Designing for multiple screens
2. Improving layout performance
3. Managing audio playback
4. Optimizing battery life
5. Remembering users
6. Sharing content
7. Capturing photos
8. Maintaining multiple APKs
9. Developing for enterprise
10. Monetizing your app
11. Designing effective navigation
These classes are designed to demonstrate best practices for solving common Android development problems. Each class explains the steps required to solve a problem, or implement a feature, with plenty of code snippets and sample code for developers to use within their own apps.
Note: Android Training does not start from scratch and there are some prerequisites for this program. You should know the basics of writing code and how to develop an Android user interface. Android Training is designed for developers looking to refine their apps.
What we see now is just the beginning. Google plans to add many more classes, expand and refine existing classes, and build Training Courses that help developers enhance your apps using objective-oriented collections of classes.
Given the nascent stage of mLearning development, the learning value that mLearning developers can derive from this training program is tremendous. Eventually that will result in us being able to design more compelling and engaging mLearning experiences.
You can access the Android Training home page here. https://developer.android.com/training/index.html
