Google Offers A Free Crash Course In Android Development

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LfVBFFoy9Y0

Google has teamed up with Udacity to make available a free course in Android development available to all – complete with videos, quizzes, course materials and forums. The course is called “Developing Android Apps: Android Fundamentals,” and it provides everything you need to learn how to make an Android app step-by-step; provided, that is, you already have a basic understanding of programming in general.
The Android course is presented by Google Developer Advocates Reto Meier, Dan Galpin and Katherine Kuan, and also features personalized feedback and direct guidance from coaches for students who are also enrolled in Udacity’s paid, guided subscription program. The aim of the program is to provide context regarding the history of Android and its creation, as well as teach you how to build actual Android software, with the aim of getting devs to the point where they can think in terms of Android programming instead of just shoehorning their existing experience onto the platform.

Google clearly wants to get more devs building software for its platform, and for good reason. Android is gearing up to be the OS that powers everything, if the announcements at Google I/O last month were any indication. Getting programmers to a place where they can “think like an Android developer” makes it a lot more likely that Android’s new auto, TV and wearable platforms become sticky, instead of something consumers don’t mind mostly ignoring.