GDSC India’s Android Study Jams Boost Student Career Outcomes
Posted by Tanvi Somani, Program Manager - Regional Lead, Google Developer
Student Clubs, Google Developer Relations India
Android Study
Jams
, hosted by Google Developer Student Clubs (GDSC) chapters across the globe and
in India, leverage peer-to-peer teaching to train a new generation of student Android
developers. The program aims to help student developers build their careers and put them on a
solid path towards earning an
Associate
Android Developers Certification
. Three students from the GDSC community in India,
Amsavarthan Lv, Rishi Balamurugan, and Sanjay S. went the extra kilometer to earn their
certifications.
Meet the newly certified Android developers
“From childhood onward, I was inspired by my brother to learn to program. He’s also a
certified Android developer,” says Amsavarthan Lv, the GDSC Lead at the Chennai Institute of
Technology and a full-stack web and mobile developer. “I used to be amazed by seeing the code
and information on his output screen. Over time, I started exploring tech, and I chose my
career as a full-stack web and mobile developer.”
Rishi Balamurugan’s father introduced him to coding, and he eventually built an application
for his dad's company. A member of GDSC Shiv Nadar University from Bangalore, Rishi was the
facilitator for the Android Study Jams on his campus.
Sanjay S. mused he didn’t like technology at first, but a friend introduced him to Android
with Java through an online course, which changed the course of his career. Now, he’s a
pre-final-year engineering student, specializing in Android and full-stack development, at Sri
Ramakrishna Engineering College - Coimbatore Tamil Nadu.
(Pictured from left to right)
Amsavarthan Lv, Rishi Balamurugan, and
Sanjay S. each recently earned a certification in Android Development.
Leveling up Android development skills
These three newly certified Android developers completed the program with comprehensive
Android development skills and the confidence and preparation to build a career in Android
development.
“As an Android developer, I have taken several webinars and workshops through GDSC and other
campus programs,” Amsavarthan says. “The course and the content provided in Android Study Jams
was a piece of cake for getting started as an Android developer. It had everything from
creating basic layouts to implementing a local database.”
“After learning the fundamentals, I heard about this certification and started to prepare,”
says Sanjay. “I thought this would help me stand out in my career and boost my confidence.”
After receiving mentorship from the Google Play team on Google Play and Play Academy, the
students built simple applications and learned what's involved to deploy to the Google Play
Store.
- YouTube Thumbnail
Search App
: A solution for users who just want to browse thumbnails and not play the
videos shown in the YouTube search list, the application leverages LiveData and ViewModel to
handle the UI Logic.
Screenshots
- SimplDo
: This
application keeps track of your todo list, with options to add, check, update, and delete
items. List items are displayed using Recycler view and stored using View Model and Live Data;
Jetpack navigation is used to handle navigation between the fragments and pass data.
Screenshots
- Alert'em
: An
emergency alerter with local helpline numbers, this app’s “Emergency Alerting System” sends an
SMS containing the recent call log of the user to their emergency contacts. It uses a flexible
constraint layout and a Jetpack Navigation to switch between different screens.
Screenshots
Building confidence and career readiness
Over 65.5 thousand developers participated in 800+ Android Study Jams in India and emerged
with new skills from the
Android Basics in Kotlin
Course
and
Appscale
academy
sessions. Program facilitators could earn Google Developer Profile badges
and become Android Educators.
“Android Study Jams helped me to try out new libraries such as Jetpack, DataStore, and
WorkManager and showed me how to work in a step-by-step manner,” says Sanjay. “It was
organized in such a way that even a beginner can start learning Android easily.”
Amsavarthan, Rishi, and Sanjay took the initiative to gain the skills to pursue employment as
full-time Android developers after graduation, and as the program continues, more Android
Study Jams participants will be on their way to bright futures.
How to join a Google Developer Student Club and lead or attend an Android Study
Jam:
- If you’re a university student interested in opportunities to learn about Google
developer products, including Android Study Jams, sign up for a
Google Developer Student Club
near you
here
.
- Want to make a similar impact on your campus? Sign up to become a Google Developer
Student Clubs Lead
here
.