Code.org® : Learn To Code With Pictures
Did you really just make that?
Code.org® is a non-profit company which teaches how to code using a free online platform. The website was launched in 2013. The company wanted to expand participation and knowledge in the area of computer science. The company’s vision is “that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science.” Their hope is that computer science will become part of the mainstream curriculum alongside courses such as maths and sciences.
Code.org® is funded with help from a long list of supporters that include Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.
My experience on Code.org® was okay. I decided to try the Hour of Code section. I selected the Artist course and started to make simple shapes. I found the interface to be quite simple looking but the actual course quite confusing. There are no real instructions other than a small blurb at the top of each exercise, and this only tells you a simple action. As well it is not straight forward that you have to make the blocks attached to each other. My initial thought was that I had to just drop it into the workspace and it would know what to do for me.
Personally I have actually done coding before using both Processing and Arduino. In these two programs, although less straight forward for beginners, I found them easier to comprehend. As well for my learning process it made more sense to me to see and type the actual code rather than dragging and dropping some sort of block.
Here is a link to a blog I made for my Processing and Arduino coding exercises. [http://hello-p-i-e.tumblr.com/]
Below are two videos that help to explain Code.org® and their efforts.
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