iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

Coding and programming are the same thing. As a proponent of high-quality educational experiences, I recommend programming and robotics as incubators of powerful ideas.

Tired of writing your own boring code for new software? Finally, there’s an AI that can do it for you.

BAYOU is an deep learning tool that basically works like a search engine for coding: tell it what sort of program you want to create with a couple of keywords, and it will spit out java code that will do what you’re looking for, based on its best guess.

The tool was developed by a team of computer scientists from Rice University who received funding both from the military and Google. In a study published earlier this month on the preprint server arXiv, they describe how they built BAYOU and what sorts of problems it can help programmers solve.

This site is a student resource for the study of programming concepts for grades 10 - 12.

As we move more and more toward a world filled with screens, those possessing coding skills have never been more in demand.

If you’re trying to break into the field, whether you want to program robots, design websites, or become a more desirable employee, learning Python is a good place to start.

There’s a lot of effort to attract women to the computer sciences at universities and the workforce. But to shift technology’s gender imbalance we might need to focus on a younger crowd. Much younger — like 6-year-olds.

For the first time, research from the University of Washington shows that by first grade, children are already embracing the stereotype that boys are better than girls at robotics and programming. At the same time, the kids believe that girls and boys are equally good or their own gender is better at math and other sciences.

And girls with the strongest negative stereotypes about their genders’ tech abilities also reported the least interest and personal skill in programming and robotics.

Turtle Academy makes it surprisingly easy to start creating amazing shapes using the LOGO language Here are some examples for easy and fun programming

Coding is one of the most demanded skills in the 21st century learning. There is a growing need for teaching students the fundamentals of coding and computer programming not only because these are the skills needed for the future job market but also because coding allows learners to better understand their digitally focused life and therefore enhance their interaction with digital media.



We have already featured a plethora of interesting resources, apps, and tools  that teachers and parents can draw on to introduce coding to their kids  and today we are sharing with you another important resource we learned from Life Hacker. The popular GitHub has compiled this excellent list comprising more than 500 free books on programming and coding. The books cover different  topics from programming languages to software architecture.

"Students learning to create apps with Apple’s Swift programming language now have a way to validate their skills with a new certification program. App Development with Swift is a new academic certification course created by Certiport in partnership with Apple that measures students’ ability to program with Swift after completing a year-long program.

The new Swift certification program will be available starting this fall:"

Six years ago, universities like MIT and Stanford first opened up free online courses to the public. Today, more than 800 schools around the world have created thousands of free online courses.

I’ve compiled this list of 630 such free online courses that you can start this month. For this, I leveraged Class Central’s database of over 10,000 courses. I’ve also included each course’s average rating.

Summer is almost here and it's a great time to learn a new skill that you can bring into your classroom next fall. One of the skills that seems to be mentioned in almost every education periodical these days is programming or coding. Learning to program isn't as difficult as you might think that is. Each of the following services make it relatively easy to learn to program your own apps. As you learn to program your own app, you'll start to see how your students can do the same and use those skills in your classroom next fall.

At the secondary level, core computer science (CS) concepts and practices are taught in courses typically within the information technology (IT) career cluster under the umbrella of career and technical education (CTE). However, CS concepts and practices are also increasingly being incorporated into academics and also electives (and are influenced by art and design).

No matter the discipline, creating computational artifacts is one of the core CS practices students should consistently experience to become better problem-solvers. Computational artifacts may include images, videos, presentations, audio files and computer programs.

Coding in education is once again gaining more and more popularity in education. There are now too many coding tools, online and device-based, to keep up with. There are so many choices now for students, teachers, or for anyone looking at using coding in education. Choice is great but it creates a new challenge for teachers — which tool(s) is best for my students?
But coding in education is special. It’s not just learning about loops, variables, objects and if…then statements. Coding to learn in education has a long history. But computer science and computer programming also has a long history. Often, they are getting mixed up and, I think, there is some time and effort being wasted as a result.

Ableton, A Berlin-based music software company, just released a free interactive music course that runs right in your browser.
One thing that immediately struck me about their web app was how well it was built. For example, if you change the tab, the music will fade out, then fade back in when you return. And if you start one sequencer, then scroll down and start another sequencer, it will automatically pause the first one.
It also has fun, easy to understand interfaces for programming music.

How can programming for kids be fun? Through play, of course, and what better way than through apps! Learning to code is similar to learning a second language, and the younger a child begins to pick it up, the more rapidly he or she will understand it. In addition, programming apps can develop life skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. Today´s generation of parents are raising their children in a unique world, one unlike anything the human race has previously experienced. Most families are immersed in technology, whether they realize it or not. These technological devices require programming, or coding, to function, and it is a skill set that is becoming more and more necessary on an international level. These 20 apps, in no particular order, are hitting the mark and making programming for kids exciting and challenging.

An introduction to programming for non-technical people
..by explaining jokes for programmers.