Human computer interaction that reaches beyond desktop applications

Recently, several frameworks have been developed for writing mobile and web applications in Java, making the development of web and mobile applications accessible to HCI students with only a CS1 Java background. In this paper we describe using student projects based on the Google Android mobile platform and Google's Web Toolkit to provide students with experience designing and implementing user interfaces for mobile and web applications. Specific examples demonstrate how programming on these platforms reinforces standard HCI topics. As a result of being able to learn mobile device programming in the context of "cool" Google platforms, students expressed increased interest in studying HCI.