This Ted Talk was called “A 12 Year-Old App Developer.” It was just that- a 12 year-old talking about developing apps for Apple products. He explained how kids his age grew up playing digital games and are now wondering how to make their own. He started by learning coding languages such as Python (apparently this is a more basic one). Once he felt comfortable coding in a few different languages, Apple released the iPad, and the iPad development kit, which allowed users to develop apps for the App Store. This speaker decided to make apps called “Earth Fortune” and “Bustin Jeiber” (apparently his peers don’t like Justin Bieber).

Once this speaker was a pro at making his own apps, he wanted to gather information about what other apps his peers wanted to see, and even produce themselves. So, he made an app development club at school. He thinks that these days, students are more technologically advanced, and can use apps to their advantage in their learning. Teachers, he says, should support this pursuit.

I think this Ted Talk is relevant to leadership because it shows how no one is too young to make an impact. This 12 year-old had a desire for new apps and he made them. Certainly if a middle schooler can have any kind of impact on the world, then anyone can. I think this returns to the point that sometimes our actions feel small. However, it is important to keep doing things, and specifically doing good. Eventually these small actions (like making Apple apps) can have a larger impact.

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