CoderZ Announces CoderZ League World Champions

CoderZ today announced the winners of the all-new CoderZ League: the Virtual Cyber Robotics Competition (formerly the Cyber Robotics Coding Competition or CRCC). Students in grades four through 12 throughout the United States and the world joined in the cloud-based robotics tournament. Three teams from each of the tournament’s two levels – Junior and Pro – became CoderZ League World Champions.

Beginning coders, schools new to the competition, and students in grades five through eight competed at the CoderZ League Junior level using Blockly. The three CoderZ League World Champion teams were the following:

  • The Legend Z team from Union High School (Pennsylvania)
  • The Avenues FLL MG team 1 from Avenues the World School (New York City)
  • The Method K20 all-girls team from Methodist Girls High School located (Ghana)

The CoderZ League Pro level was for students in grades seven through 12 who could use Blockly or Python. The three CoderZ League World Champion teams were the following:…Read More

Wizrobotics launches Wizprodigy, a new online competition experience for STEM students

Wizrobotics, an online live learning platform for teaching and inspiring K-12 students to explore STEM fields, announced the launch of Wizprodigy.  Wizprodigy is a new and exciting online STEM competition focused on inspiring middle school and high school students across North America to learn coding and to build their own design of a mini Tesla Cybertruck. With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the learning environment of students, Wizprodigy is looking to bring together creative young minds by offering a unique way for students to learn about STEM and gain hands-on experience in robotics while providing them with an opportunity to compete for scholarship prizes.

With approximately 1.3 billion students world wide staying at home, it has been a real struggle for many parents to keep students engaged. Learning at home is not the same as learning in person with amazing teacher interactions and friends to keep students motivated and upbeat.

“The goal of Wizprodigy is to create a sense of community for students across North America, inspire students to stay motivated during tough times and most of all, have fun with STEM,” described Jack Zhou, Founder of Wizrobotics on this initiative. “By being a part of the Wizprodigy competition, students have the opportunity to feel connected and interact with other students sharing  their common interest in STEM.”…Read More

CoderZ Encouraging Title I Schools to Sign-up Students for the Amazon Cyber Robotics Challenge

The Amazon Cyber Robotics Challenge has passed the halfway mark, but it’s not too late for teachers and students to sign up. Since the fall, CoderZ and Amazon Future Engineer have been bringing real-world industry to Title I classrooms with this free, three-hour virtual learning experience. Students can sign up for the challenge to learn the basics of computer science at any time until the end of the current school year. They will also uncover how Amazon uses computer science and robotics daily to deliver customer goods.

Schools that support students from underserved communities who finish the challenge will have the chance to keep learning on CoderZ’s cloud-based platform with its virtual robots and game-like “missions.” For teachers who want to continue with CoderZ, Amazon will also sponsor free access to the yearlong curriculum for 100,000 students from underserved communities within the United States for a full semester during 2020 – 2021.

“We’re truly delighted to be partnering with Amazon Future Engineer,” said Ms. Yaarit Levy, VP Business Development at CoderZ. “This challenge has proved to be an excellent way to keep students engaged and learning even if they can’t be together with teachers at this time.”…Read More

CoderZ to Launch New CoderZ League Sprint Challenge Virtual Tournament in March

This year, students across the United States can look forward to another type of March Madness. On top of cheering on their favorite collegiate basketball team, they’ll be the ones competing – in the new CoderZ League Sprint Challenge. The cloud-based robotics tournament is designed to give participating students the chance to connect with peers, improve their STEM skills and have fun while learning.

The challenge will take place in the CoderZ Cyber Robotics Learning Environment, an innovative, online platform which has a coding interface where users can activate a virtual robot, or “cyber-robot,” and watch the results in a real-time simulation.

Students will form five-member teams and compete against other teams within their school. A statewide leaderboard will also allow them to compare their progress with that of other teams throughout their state. The challenge can accommodate whatever method a school is using to deliver instruction, whether it’s in person, online or a hybrid model.…Read More

How to teach coding and robotics from home

When our school shut down in March, initially, it was for a two-week period. I thought, “Well, this isn’t too bad, we can do a few coding activities from Code.org or maybe put together some Google Slides presentations for when we return.”

Then, two weeks turned into the end of April and my plan had to change.

As the technology teacher in our district, I felt I was adept at communicating with my students online (we are a Google Apps for Education school, and I’ve been a Google Classroom user since its beginnings), but I knew others in our district weren’t quite as tech savvy. I put together a few tutorial videos on how to use Google Classroom, Google Meet, and Zoom for our staff members to use to reach out to their students.…Read More

CoderZ Contributes to the National Computer Science for All Movement

The CSforALL movement, to bring computer science to all US students, marked a major growth milestone today. Along with 126 organizations, CoderZ has made new commitments to advance computer science education access and opportunity for youth across the United States at the 2020 CSforALL Commitments Showcase.

“In partnership with Amazon Future Engineer, we’ve committed to providing coding and robotics instruction to 150,000 students over the next 12 months,” said Ido Yerushalmi, CEO of CoderZ. “We’re doing this by offering free access to our virtual robotics platform for up to 1,000 teachers working in Title I schools across the United States by the summer of 2021.”

Additionally, CoderZ in partnership with the Intelitek STEM and CTE Education Foundation, is committed to empowering traditionally underserved communities with better access to STEM. “CoderZ is very pleased to be involved in the national movement to increase access to and equity in computer science for all,” said Yerushalmi. “It’s extremely important for all students to have access to this area of knowledge, even if it does not become their career of choice. We are dedicated to making this type of learning fun, empowering and accessible to as many students as possible.”…Read More

High School Students Dive into Media Production

For the last few decades, U.S. school curriculum has centered on college preparation, but in recent years, parents, teachers and administrators have begun advocating for the inclusion of more professional skills-based training. Their vision is quickly becoming reality as more high schools invest in the technology and instructional staff to support more career-minded education, ranging from 3D animation to masonry, robotics and more. According to Texas-based AV Systems Integrator Digital Resources, one such field that’s drawn interest from the education community is news production and live event AV.

Year on year, the company continues to see new clients requesting sophisticated on-campus studio builds that incorporate real-world media production equipment from companies like AJA Video Systems. Schools then harness the facility and equipment to train students on how to deliver daily news casts from start to finish, with students serving as the production crew, news anchor team, director/technical director and floor director. In addition to learning the tools and roles of the trade, they’re taught how to write story scripts; achieve the right voice quality, diction and timing; performance and pacing techniques; and more.

Prosper Rock Hill High School in Frisco, TX is one of the many high schools embracing this methodology, and with help from Digital Resources, recently built a cutting-edge TV studio that its students use to produce and broadcast a live daily news show campus-wide. Similarly, Northwest Independent School District (ISD) in Fort Worth, TX, is using its Creative Media Production Academy, built by Digital Resources, to train students in 3D animation, live event production, broadcast, and more. Some students from the program have gained such valuable experience that they’ve gone on to land positions assisting proAV management for collegiate athletics and professional sports productions post-graduation. With educational outfits like Prosper Rock and Northwest ISD continuing to demonstrate the value that early media production training can provide, Digital Resources expects more districts and campuses to follow in their footsteps.…Read More

CoderZ & Amazon Cyber Robotics Back-to-School Challenge

This fall, CoderZ and Amazon Future Engineer are bringing real-world industry to classrooms with the Amazon Cyber Robotics Back-to-School Challenge. In this free, three-hour virtual learning experience, students learn the basics of computer science while uncovering how Amazon uses computer science and robotics daily to deliver customer goods.

Schools that support students from underserved communities who finish the challenge not only have the chance to win prizes, but also to keep learning on CoderZ’s cloud-based platform with its virtual robots and game-like “missions.” For teachers who want to continue with CoderZ, Amazon will also sponsor free access to the yearlong curriculum for 100,000 students from underserved communities within the United States for a full semester during 2020 – 2021.

 …Read More

CoderZ Named 2020 Tech Edvocate Award Winner for Best Coding App or Tool

CoderZ, an online learning environment where students learn robotics and STEM by coding virtual robots, has been named a 2020 Tech Edvocate Award winner in the Best Coding App or Tool category.

“The Tech Edvocate Award represents the combined opinion of industry insiders, knowledgeable educators, and interested parents,” said Ido Yerushalmi, CEO of CoderZ. “It’s an honor to have our coding and robotics curriculum and its game-based design and instructional model chosen as a solution that is positively impacting teaching and learning—and this has never been more important than during this unprecedented time of COVID-19.”

This is the fourth year of the Tech Edvocate Awards, which recognizes outstanding edtech products that support students across the Pre-K-20 sector by catering to identified classroom and learning needs. Winners and finalists were selected by a panel of educators and industry experts who reviewed the submissions and judged the products and services based on the extent to which they are transforming education through the development or advocacy of edtech. A complete list of winners of the 2020 Tech Edvocate Awards can be found here.…Read More

CoderZ Introduces an Engaging New Course, Featuring LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime

Throughout August, CoderZ is offering free access to their new Adventure Course, featuring a virtual LEGO Education SPIKE Prime.  The course is based on the award-winning CoderZ virtual robotics learning environment and is offered free this month to help keep students safely learning amidst the uncertainty caused by the global pandemic.

The CoderZ Adventure Course empowers teachers to teach their students the basics of coding and robotics, whether they are in classrooms or at home, and without needing any coding or robotics experience. The course is designed to make it easy for educators to monitor and evaluate students’ progression, understanding and implementation of STEAM concepts and principles.

The online course can be used as a complement to hands-on building activities with a physical SPIKE Prime set, either before or parallel to the hands-on experience. Visit CoderZ for more information: https://gocoderz.com/lego_education_spike_prime/…Read More

A plan for teaching coding and robotics from home

When our school shut down in March, initially, it was for a two-week period. I thought, “Well, this isn’t too bad, we can do a few coding activities from Code.org or maybe put together some Google Slides presentations for when we return.”

Then, two weeks turned into the end of April and my plan had to change.

As the technology teacher in our district, I felt I was adept at communicating with my students online (we are a Google Apps for Education school, and I’ve been a Google Classroom user since its beginnings), but I knew others in our district weren’t quite as tech savvy. I put together a few tutorial videos on how to use Google Classroom, Google Meet, and Zoom for our staff members to use to reach out to their students.…Read More

Enabling schools to fight COVID-19 with 3D printable respirator masks

pi-top, creators of computing devices that combine digital making, coding, and practical projects, today announced their partnership with Maker Mask. The collaboration comes as a result of both companies’ goal to give teachers, students and makers everywhere the ability to make a positive impact on their communities by 3D printing respirators for those in need.

Schools around the world use pi-top to teach core STEAM skills in coding, robotics and AI. Teaming with Maker Mask, pi-top has released a video content series that teaches 3D printing. Detailed lesson plans on the fundamentals of 3D printing and how to 3D print the Maker Mask can be found on Further, pi-top’s online learning space.

As a response to the desperate need for locally sourced personal protective equipment (PPE), the Maker Mask team has created the first National Institutes of Health (NIH)-approved, open-source 3D printable mask which is available for free download at makermask.com. More than 10,000 makers around the world are using their 3D printers and the Maker Mask design to make protective respirator-style masks at small batch production sites in 145 countries. Printing one of the Maker Mask masks takes about four hours and has the equivalent lifetime use of 300 N95 masks.…Read More