Apple introduces more lessons for kids to learn about coding and creativity

Apple wants to build the coding and creative skills in your young ones this summer. Canadian kids can take part in things like Apple Camp, new weekly Kids Hours, and How to Get Started with Coding sessions. For those interested in the Apple Camp, it’s a free three-day experience for children ages 8 to 12 years old. The camp teaches kids about coding, illustration, movie making, and composing of music. In Apple Stores around the world, there are now also weekly Kids Hour that educates about different, fun hands-on projects like “Sphero Maze Challenge,” “Making Movies Together,” and “Creating Music with GarageBand.”

There are also new daily How To sessions at Apple Stores. The new one geared towards kids is the Get Started with Coding sessions. This gives children a chance to explore coding concepts and use the same code professional developers use. Apple’s Swift Playgrounds app for the iPad helps make coding lessons more interactive and fun for beginner coders from ages 12 and up. If you’d like to check out these lessons and sign up, you can find out more in this link.

Why it's important for parents to know about coding and how Swift Playgrounds makes it accessible for everyone

We're hearing more about "coding" but how many parents actually know what it means? Even a conversation today with friends over lunch we had discussed coding. While I had assumed that we all have some basic understanding, it was really not the case. Coding is a language. It's universal. It's what is used to create games, software, apps, and websites. It's not only for computer whizzes but for everyday...hello Facebook users? So, why should we, as parents, care? It's the language that powers the computers and if I look around me right now, I can tell you that my phone, microwave, coffee machine, fridge, lights, car and television are all running because of computers. Coding is the step-by-step commands that makes all these machines follow what we need them to do.

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Microsoft and Code.org celebrate Computer Science Education Week with free ‘Minecraft’-based coding tutorial

Microsoft and Code.org are at it again this year with Minecraft Hour of Code Designer, a coding tutorial for students and educators. The two organizations partnered yet again for this entry for Hour of Code, an annual global campaign held during Computer Science Education Week from December 5 to 11. The web-based tutorial allows beginner coders to create and share their own simple Minecraft game, which at the same time is teaching them the needed critical thinking and problem-solving skills for working in this modern age.

The tutorial is available in 10 languages and is scheduled to be available in 50 languages by December 5. It’s designed for ages 6 and up and features Code.org’s drag-and-drop coding interface to teach computer science concepts like object-oriented programming, event handlers, and repeat loops. There will be a series of 12 challenges for players to overcome and resulting in them being able to create their own simple game that they can share with friends. Microsoft also plans to host hundreds of free workshops in Microsoft Stores around the world. You can secure a spot for these youth coding events through this link or by visiting your local Microsoft Store.

Microsoft hopes to get more kids to learn code through #CodeGeneration campaign

Hoping to curb youth unemployment and get more people into the Canadian IT sector, Microsoft is introducing the #CodeGeneration movement. They want to inspire Canadian youth (ages 13 to 18) to learn to code starting today until Computer Science Education Week (December 7 – 13).

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