Hop into an Hour of Code with Apple

Monday, December 03, 2018

Apple - Everyone Can Code - Computer Science Education Week

It is Computer Science Education Week and, in anticipation, Apple released new resources that will help bring coding education to more students throughout the world thanks to the Everyone Can Code program. This includes free Hour of Code sessions available at all Apple store locations from December 1 through 14. You can register through Today at Apple for coding themed sessions such as How to Get Started with Coding, Coding with Swift Playgrounds, App Design and Coding Basics, How to Program Robots with Swift Playgrounds and Kids Hour: Sphero Maze Challenge, designed for aspiring coders aged six to 12.

Apple has also introduced Swift Coding Club materials to help teach coding with Swift, Apple’s easy-to-learn programming language used by professional developers to create world-class apps. Teachers have access to:

The new Swift Coding Club kit gives teachers, students and club mentors the tools they need to start their own coding clubs and gives students aged 8 and up the ability to collaborate, prototype apps and explore how coding can make a difference in their communities using fun activities from Swift Playgrounds and App Development with Swift on iPads.

Apple - Swift Playgrounds - Computer Science Education Week

Swift Playgrounds is available as a free download in the App Store in 15 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and more. For teachers in the TCDSB, you will be happy to know that the Swift Playgrounds app is already available for download within the TCDSB App Store!

There are so many free Playgrounds you can download in app that guide students through puzzles to master the basics, so no previous coding knowledge is required. There is a complete set of Apple-designed lessons that kids will love because they get to use real code to guide a character through a 3D world while making their way from the Fundamentals of Swift towards more advanced concepts.

To help prepare and develop students for the workforce, Apple also unveiled new Advanced Placement curriculum and App Development with Swift certification. Students can earn a certification that recognizes their knowledge of Swift, app developer tools and core components of apps. The App Development with Swift Level 1 certification exams are offered through Certiport Authorized Testing Centers worldwide.