Basic application development advice

I'm after some basic advice. For a university project I need to develop a mobile application (for either Android, iOS, or even an online web application). It will basically display real-time stock prices, have an alerts system, calendar, contact list etc. I was just wondering what is the best approach to take? Which is the best coding language to learn, in order to create such an application and which software would you recommend? Any courses you recommend?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks