"There's NOT an app for that!" - Part 1

"There's NOT an app for that!" - Part 1

If you're like me, you're guilty of downloading more apps than you could use. Some of them were probably used only once. They were free. What did you have to lose?

Or maybe you're using 6 different websites that each do 6 different things in your workflow. One of them needs information from another one to work. So you export data, and import it where it needs to go. It works--so what's the fuss?

It may sound like a first world problem, but there are too many apps and website solutions out there. You are flooded with more options than you could fit on your device. Yet despite the volume, none of them do exactly what you need.

There's always that "one more thing" that's missing.

Some among us might take the time to provide feedback and suggestions to improve our favorite apps. "Hey, wouldn't this app be ten times better if it could do this or do that? Help me upvote this idea!" Despite acknowledging its shortcomings, we willingly promote our favorite apps and would defend it against critics.

Yet what are we to do when changes don't happen? We settle.

Are you okay with that?

If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

That's right--I am urging you to learn how to code to solve problems yourself. It is not as far-fetched an idea as it would have been a few years ago. In the past, app development would have required years of education and experience. Yet with low-code solutions like Microsoft PowerApps and internet resources that support it, you only need to learn what is relevant to solving your problem.

The coding language has been simplified, and background connections done for you.

All you need is a vision.

"There's NOT an app for that!" is a multi-part blog series in which I will make the case that someone as busy as a teacher will find great value in building their own apps--or having someone in their district or department develop the apps that they need.

Prepare to feel the cognitive dissonance.