As educators in the 21st century, today’s school leaders are always looking for help and we realize that. We try to provide teachers with as much support as possible through all phases of their EdTech acquisition. We are not the only ones, however, in the business of making technology acquisition and deployment easier for educators (obviously). In fact, much of what we know we’ve learned from watching others do successfully. This week, we’re going to discuss some of the best STEM and coding resources for teachers to read, explore, use, and, at the very least, know about. Whether you want more insight into the benefits of technology in education or new ideas for how to better enhance classroom learning, these few names are some you won’t want to forget!
CS for All
It’s a constant in contemporary education that advocates, teachers, and even students are unrelentingly pushing for—getting computer science education to everyone. CS for All (Computer Science for All) is an organization that is committed to doing just that. They know—like a lot of us in the education community—that computer science is an increasingly important component of modern day education. And, they also know that it can be incorporated into instruction at any grade level—so long as teachers and school leaders have the tools and the insight for how to do so effectively. They are committed to providing help for afterschool club leaders, university faculty, school curriculum directors, educators, and students. Starting locally, they help school leaders build their capacity for delivering computer science and exposing more students to it.
Ultimately, they want to ensure that students are taking part in rigorous computer science courses and activities that provide an equitable experience for everybody. If one student is able to benefit from CS, then everybody should be able to benefit from it, right? Their message seems simple, but it’s a very important one to remember. Aside from creating in-class computer science experiences for teachers and students, CS for All is also committed to boosting nationwide support for computer science education through various initiatives as they highlight the work that educators have done with their students. They have truly built a community of innovators who design educational experiences geared towards the future. They've done all that while advancing their collective mission of making high-quality computer science experiences a regular part of K-12 curriculum.
They have a number of specific projects and programs dedicated to advancing computer science development. Some of those include helping school leaders with their CS education planning, defining computer science education values, and providing direct consultation. They also want to make sure communities are always moving forward and they provide support to school communities, too. They’ve launched projects challenging school and district leaders to commit to expanding CS access for their students, identify opportunities to increase their ability to teach computer science, and define and address the key issues related to K-12 computer science education today. In just a few years, CS for All has become a household name in K-12 STEM education and, as the importance of learning coding expands, it remains an excellent resource.From teachers and principals to superintendents, it'll help whoever wants to add CS to the curriculum.
Girls Who Code
There has been a lot of buzz around the Girls Who Code organization in the last couple of weeks following the not-so-impressive 60 minutes piece that aired a couple of Sunday’s ago. Even before this segment, they'd been helping provide opportunities for females of all ages, who might typically be underrepresented in STEM, to take part in crucial learning opportunities and experiences that will make them better prepared for the future. Since founded by Reshma Saujani in 2012, they've worked with almost 100,000 young women to give them the chance to code. They've become a household name in the STEM world, working tirelessly to help girls become more represented in tech. They have worked with and received funding from some of the world’s most well-known companies. These include Uber, AT&T, Walmart, Bank of America, Groupon, Accenture, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, AIG, and plenty more!
They offer a few different programs to get girls of all ages more involved with coding and STEM experiences. Since high school is a crucial time in the decision making process for all students, one of their programs is geared towards high school juniors who are going to enter their senior year or sophomores who are going to become juniors. This free 7-week introductory course is available for prospective juniors and seniors to learn more about computer science, see what tech jobs are like, and become a part of a group committed to fostering equity among women in STEM. The organization is also committed to using computer science as a vehicle to create change in school communities. They share messages about how girls adults can empower girls—with the right instruction and tools—to make a significant impact with technology.
Their team helps anybody running programs offer computer science instruction to girls through real-world projects. Whether in art, storytelling, robotics, video game design, or something else, they can use coding in so many different ways and learn about it from a young age to get ready for the future. Many programs last a few weeks and culminate with a final collaborative challenge to create something that sparks change. Like we said, these programs promote the importance of sisterhood, community, and togetherness and expose girls to tomorrow’s brightest careers. Opportunities could even include field trips to various STEM facilities, workshops, guest speakers, and more to help inspire all girls who participate! To learn more about Girls Who Code or to find a local chapter, visit their website!
Code.org
After praising the efforts of the Girls Who Code team, we’d be remiss not to mention another hugely influential company in STEM education. Code.org is a nonprofit organization committed to expanding access to K-12 computer science education. They have become a household name after helping make the annual Computer Science Education Week a staple in countless schools. Their team has been instrumental in this initiative, which is simply intended to encourage teachers and school leaders to give their students the chance to try various coding activities during the week-long event or during one of their many Hour of Code initiatives during which students can simply take part in a more brief computer science experience. Like everyone from Girls Who Code, they're committed to expanding computer science opportunities and giving underrepresented groups an equal chance!
The mission of Code.org is simple. They want to ensure that every student has the chance to learn computer science in the same way they have the opportunity to learn traditional academic subjects, like biology, algebra, social studies, and chemistry. In today’s climate, having the ability to code is vital just as learning the skills associated with the other subjects we just mentioned was 15 or 20 years ago. Of course, now computer science is where the jobs are and where we expect them to remain. With those statistics in mind, Code.org provides curriculum for teaching K-12 computer science as part of the regular school day. Educators across the country have adopted this curriculum and, as coding becomes more vital, we should only expect it to rise. To date, 15 percent of the world’s students have participated in an Hour of Code event, illustrating its impact.
In order to increase diversity in computer science, Code.org has made it their mission to reach students at the level they’re at. Meeting them at their skill level is how they help keep kids engaged while not intimidating them or rushing them into anything too overwhelming. This method has proven to keep students inspired and often leads to them mastering one concept then moving on to another, more challenging one. Thanks to Code.org and their founder, Hadi Partovi, countless students have had the chance to experience structured coding challenges in the classroom and the amount of diversity in computer science is slowly beginning to increase. To learn more about Code.org, Computer Science Education Week, and how to bring in-depth coding curricula into your school or district, we encourage you to check them out!
Tynker
There seems to be a theme with the focus areas of some of the most effective STEM organizations in the mix today. And, that theme would be coding. Coding is so important to the futures of students that many parents, teachers, school leaders, and professionals believe they should start practicing coding in one form or another as early as Pre-K, kindergarten, or first grade. That’s where Tynker comes in. They’re committed to unlocking opportunities for bringing age-appropriate coding into early education through their engaging and simplified offerings. They pride themselves on making programming introduction easy for elementary teachers and believe that kids should be coding regularly by the time they’re seven years old. Whether it’s block coding or something more complex as they build the skills, Tynker makes it so that kids only need a computer and an Internet connection to take part in some authentic coding.
It’s free to create a Tynker account and, within their environment, students can try block or text coding. The various challenges include controlling toys, creating apps, building games, and, of course, the chance to learn different coding languages. As they say, the Tynker team believes that kids should be learning to code using visual blocks that represent authentic programming concepts. They also belive that coding is more of a game than something that’s intimidating. Well, when they put it like that, teaching programming at an early age doesn’t sound bad at all! Kids can learn the foundation of programming languages like Blockly, Swift, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and Python on the Tynker site. Plus, the activities steer kids towards developing the most important 21st century skills, like problem solving, collaboration, resilience, focus, and creativity as they work and play!
Educators around the world have used Tynker in their EarlyEd classrooms as they enjoy its easy integration and variety of coding activities. That variety allows teachers to work with kids of all different skill levels from very new to coding to advanced. Over 60 million kids around the world have created over 14 million apps and written over four billion lines of code on Tynker so far, which we think is just incredible! The courses they provide for students allow them to progress through the challenges at a pace that’s right for them and how they learn. We’re also big proponents of self-paced learning and believe this is a great wrinkle to the Tynker site. Whether you’re looking for something new to add to in-school, afterschool, or camp curricula, Tynker is something you should definitely check out!
Kodable
Okay, so all of the cool STEM organizations we’re going to talk about are involved with advancing coding and computer science in K-12 schools. The last one on our list is Kodable, a team who works with elementary educators to make learning programming fun for kids. Kodable is great for inside or outside of the classroom and includes over 160 levels of coding games and challenges for developing various computer science skills. Another nice feature is that it provides teachers or parents with updates on the progress that kids are making. It also offers instructional videos and other resources that they can use to learn together with students. Everything from simple problem solving to JavaScript coding can be explored with Kodable and there are different plans available for both schools and parents, which are affordable or, in some cases, free.
Among the reasons to give Kodable a try are that students can learn logic and problem solving through programming, they can design and build their own games, and write real JavaScript code! Of course, these are all fantastic ways for them to take part in some beneficial programming experiences and help them prepare for taking their coding prowess to the next step. Kodable also offers 7-day trial periods for anyone who wants to see what it’s like and allows members to choose from a monthly membership or a year-long membership. Whichever membership option you choose, you will have access to parent resources, four player profiles, advanced levels, an introduction to JavaScript, the chance to build your own games, and more!
In addition to exposing kids to coding, Kodable also helps them grasp real-world concepts in an effective way. Throughout the different levels, kids learn computational thinking, communication, social emotional learning, and, of course, programming—all of which are extremely beneficial to them going forward. Additionally, they're committed to their coding activities delivering results rather than keeping kids occupied. By breaking down the basics, it helps kids build a foundation of CS skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. Coding with Kodable allows educators to provide students with a thorough curriculum they can access all in one place, empower them to engage in something they’ll truly enjoy, and help them make true progress in developing programming skills.
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