Learning.com announces its first Code-a-Thon, a nationwide competition that will run from Nov. 14-18, 2016 to provide an introduction to coding skills for elementary and middle school students. The winning school will receive a one-year subscription to EasyTech and EasyCode Premium, Learning.com’s digital literacy and coding curriculum for grades K-8.
To participate in the Code-a-Thon, schools simply register to receive free access to EasyTech and EasyCode Basic. Then, students log in and code their way through a number of challenges – each with increasing levels of difficulty – earning points for every successfully completed challenge. The school with the highest average number of points per student will be the winner. Schools are also encouraged to use #codeathon2016 on social media to share their progress and interact with other participants.
The Code-a-Thon originated as part of Learning.com’s pledge to support Computer Science for All (CSforAll), President Obama’s call-to-action for more computer science opportunities for all K-12 schools. CSforAll empowers K-12 students to learn computer science and develop the computational thinking skills necessary to spur the transition from consumer to creator in today’s digital economy. The Code-a-Thon was highlighted as an innovative initiative that helps make computer science accessible to all students at the CSforALL Summit hosted by the White House on Sept. 14, 2016.
“There is a growing recognition that it is important for students to begin to develop computational thinking skills and coding proficiency, even as early as elementary school,” said Learning.com CEO Keith Oelrich. “The Code-a-Thon is a fun and engaging way for teachers to introduce their students to coding concepts without having any prior experience teaching coding.”
EasyTech is a self‐paced digital literacy curriculum for grades K‐8 that provides interactive lessons, journals and quizzes to help students develop the digital literacy skills they need to succeed in school and confidently take online assessments. EasyCode offers K-8 educators a fun, game-based and turnkey instructional solution that features 200+ student challenges, and progress monitoring so teachers can quickly and efficiently introduce coding skills to their elementary and middle school students.
Schools can register for the Code-a-Thon from Oct. 4 to Nov. 9. The Code-a-Thon will take place Nov. 14-18, 2016.
- TC- What student choice and agency actually looks like - November 15, 2016
- What student choice and agency actually looks like - November 14, 2016
- App of the Week: Science sensor meets your smartphone - November 14, 2016