Category Archives: Education

Coding Education, Education, Skills

How Coding Can Kill Two Birds With One Stone

There are more coding jobs than there are people to fill them. This provides opportunities for women and minorities who have been systematically denied chances in other industries. Consider a recent article for the Atlanta Black Star titled “Study: Coding Boot Camps Bring More Women, Minorities into Tech.”

According to the author of the article, “As technology increasingly becomes a vital part of our lives, diversity in tech will continue be a major issue.According to a study by New York startup Course Report, coding boot camps like Black Girls Code and Code for Progress are filling the diversity gap at a quicker rate than the diversity initiatives of tech giants. The report revealed that 36 percent of the attendees at coding camps are women. Course Report co-founder, Liz Eggleston, said that may be a result of the tech industry’s on-going diversity movement. ‘The market demand is there,’ Eggleston said. ‘Tech companies want to get closer to a 50-50 split, so they’re demanding more female applicants.’ The report findings suggests that companies like Twitter,who announced months prior that they intended to add more women to their work force, should consider attending the coding camps to begin their recruitment process.”

UALR Public Radio also explores the importance of coding, especially for young people, in a recent article titled “Governor’s Radio Address: Coding In The Classroom.” The author of the article writes, “Teachers like Gerri McCann are our schools’ secret weapons. As a high school French teacher from the Manila Public School District, Ms. McCann’s first impression of computer coding was that it was like ‘learning another foreign language.’ But she realized its importance and dived right in. By the end of her training, she was confident enough to add teaching Computer Science to her other subjects, including French, English and Literacy Ready classes. Now Ms. McCann can offer her students even more opportunities to succeed beyond high school. Learning the ‘foreign language’ of coding was challenging, even for someone who began her career teaching French. But Ms. McCann understood the value of coding and earned a master’s degree in Information Systems. Why would she do that? To better prepare her students for a technologically driven world — a world in which computers touch everything.”

When it comes to providing youth with a customized coding education, we’ve got you covered at CodeRev Kids. At CodeRev Kids, our lessons focus on computational thinking, which encompasses a wide range of programming languages and concepts.

Our lessons build upon one another and we adjust starting points to each student’s level of expertise. Thus, the entire curriculum is customized. We are known for saying we are the most educational tech camp out there but we also keep the focus on having fun. As a result, students stay engaged while learning to blend creativity with technology.

Sign up for one of our fall classes today!

Coding Education, Education

Coding and a Well Rounded Education

We have long known that a well rounded education is the best education. However, people are trying to pit important subjects against one another and the residual effects could be detrimental to young people’s future careers. Consider a recent article for the Tampa Bay Times titled “Editorial: Don’t sacrifice foreign languages for computer coding.”

According to the author of the article, “Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, is the sponsor of SB 468, which would allow students pursuing a diploma on a college preparatory track to substitute two credits of rigorous computer coding classes for two credits of sequential foreign language instruction. To earn full credit, computer coding students would have to earn a related industry certification at the end of their coursework. The bill would allow students who earn the computer coding credits to be eligible for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program. Each school district would develop a plan for a computer science curriculum and submit it to the Legislature by January 2017. In Florida, students seeking a 24-credit standard diploma are not required to take foreign language classes. But students on track to attend college who wish to receive a diploma with a scholar designation must earn two credits in a world language, which mimics entrance requirements for Florida’s public universities. Ring, a former Yahoo executive, sees coding as its own unique language. But such a switch deprives students of valuable spoken language training, and a coding curriculum fits best within the science and math disciplines. Providing students with the chance to receive two years of coding instruction is a terrific opportunity that goes beyond the state’s existing commitment to expose students to computer science training from kindergarten through 12th grade. But sacrificing traditional foreign language study would be a mistake. Florida, with its large population of Spanish speakers, should be on the vanguard of language instruction, pushing all of its graduates to learn new languages and appreciate different cultures, races and ethnicities.”

CodeRev Kids fills in the need for coding education for California youth. Our lessons focus on computational thinking, which encompasses a wide range of programming concepts and languages. These lessons build upon one another and we adjust starting points to each student’s level of expertise. Thus, the entire curriculum is customized.

We are known for saying we are the most educational tech camp out there, but we also keep the focus on having fun. As a result, students stay engaged while learning to blend creativity with technology.

Sign up for one of our afterschool programs and/or fall classes today!

Coding Education, Education

Chicago Mayor Gives Big Endorsement to Coding

Coding is becoming a major priority for schools across the country. Chicago recently made a bold statement when the Mayor suggested that all high schoolers should code. Consider a recent article for Ubergizmo titled “Chicago Mayor Thinks All High School Grads Should Know How To Code.”

Tyler Lee of Ubergizmo writes, “Should everyone young person learn how to code? As technology becomes more integrated in our lives and with more jobs and industries relying on technology more than ever, the answer might be a ‘yes’ for some. Over in Chicago, the city’s mayor Rahm Emanuel seems to think so as well. According to a report from The Hill, Emanuel expressed his opinion that every high school graduate should know how to code, to the extent that he thinks such classes should be made a requirement in schools. Emanuel was quoted as saying, ‘Just make it a requirement. I am fine with Common Core. We adopted it in the city, one of the first cities to do it. I’m great. [But] you need this skill — national policy. Make it a high-school graduation requirement.’ Emanuel has been a huge proponent of making coding a requirement in schools. Ever since becoming mayor in 2011, he has made several steps towards that goal and by 2018, computer science is expected to become a requirement in high school graduations, at least as far as Chicago is concerned.”

Slash Gear also explores this in a recent article titled “Chicago mayor calls for national coding graduation requirement.” Brittany Hillen of Slash Gear writes, “The call was made by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who made the proposal this past Thursday. He pointed out that kids need to have this knowledge to thrive in the present and future world. Chicago itself already has plans in place to get its high schoolers on the coding path, moving to have computer science sources as a graduation requirement. According to The Hill, in a statement at a Washington Post-sponsored event, he said, ‘Just make [coding classes] a requirement. I am fine with Common Core. We adopted it in the city, one of the first cities to do it. I’m great. You need this skill — national policy. Make it a high-school graduation requirement.’ While a noble effort, there are some big barriers in place — namely, finding individuals with both the tech credentials and the teaching credentials to teach such classes. As it stands, and as many critics have pointed out, those qualified to teach the classes can earn much higher salaries taking their skills elsewhere, giving them little incentive to become a high school instructor.”

With coding education becoming increasingly sought after, taking advantage of customized coding curriculum is even more valuable. When it comes to custom coding education for youth, your best bet is CodeRev Kids.

Our lessons emphasize computational thinking, which encompasses a wide variety of programming concepts and languages. These lessons build upon one another and we adjust starting points to each student’s level of expertise.

We are known for saying we are the most educational tech camp out there, but we also keep the focus on having fun. As a result, students stay engaged while learning to blend creativity with technology.

If you’re looking to take your child’s coding education to the next level, you can’t go wrong with CodeRev Kids!

Coding Education, Education

Getting Young Children a Start in Coding

There are a variety of strategies parents use to engage their children with coding at an early age. An increasing number of games are being released to help meet this need and prepare children for the necessary coding education institutions like CodeRev Kids can provide. For example, consider a recent article for USA Today titled “How to get kids to start coding.”

Jinny Gudmundsen of USA Today writes, “If you have a Frozen movie fan in your household, head on over to code.org to explore 20 programming puzzles focused on making Elsa and Anna skate to create patterns on the ice. Created in collaboration with Disney for the Hour of Code initiative, these fun puzzles start with an inspiring video where women coders encourage children to learn programming. The puzzles introduce a visual language called ‘Blockly’ that lets kids snap together blocks of commands to create a program.  If interested, kids can toggle to discover what the commands look like in the programming language JavaScript… Similar to the Frozen coding project above, Tynker also uses code blocks to teach kids how to program. Tynker introduces its visual programming language within a series of puzzles called Codey’s Quest. In each puzzle level, kids use the code blocks to make Codey, a cute purple alien, move to his beloved candy. Kids exercise logical thinking to create programs that stress efficiency; and in that process, they learn about programming using loops and conditionals. The app also has a set of Crash Course puzzles that works with connected devices such as the Sphero and Ollie robots. In addition to the free puzzles, Tynker offers a section in which kids can use the block codes to create their own games. Additional content is available via in-app purchases ($1.99-$4.99). A separate school version app costs $5.99. Parents can also find more free content on www.Tynker.com, as well as paid courses.”

If you’re looking to provide your child with a quality coding education, your best bet is CodeRev Kids. Our classes are customized to give your child a unique educational experience.

Lessons at CodeRev Kids focus on computational thinking, which encompasses a wide range of programming concepts and languages. Our lessons build upon one another, and we adjust starting points to each student’s level of expertise; thus, the entire curriculum is customized. Furthermore, while we are known for saying we are the most educational tech camp out there, we also keep the focus on having fun. As a result, students stay engaged while learning to blend creativity with technology.

If you want to give your child a quality, customized coding education, sign up for one of our Fall classes or after school programs today?

Coding Education, Education

Australia Mandates Coding Education for All Primary School Students

How seriously does Australia take coding? A recent decision will now mandate that all primary schools provide coding education. Beta News takes a look at this in a recent article titled “Australia’s primary schools to teach coding.”

Sead Fadilpašić of Beta News writes, “Australia is preparing for the jobs of the future by having children learn coding and programming at a very young age. According to a report by Mashable, 21st century computer coding will be taught in primary schools from Year 5, and programming will be taught from Year 7. The curriculum was approved by Education Minister Christopher Pyne in one of his last acts before being sworn in as Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science. The Department of Education and Training recently announced it will be pumping AUD$12 million (£5.54m) into four different science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) education initiatives as part of the Industry, Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda. Those initiatives are the development of innovative mathematics curriculum resources, supporting the introduction of computer coding across different year levels, establishing a P-TECH-style school pilot site, and funding summer schools for STEM students from underrepresented groups.”

PBS Newshour also explores this in a recent article titled “Australia will teach primary students computer coding.” Alexandra Sarabria of PBS Newshour writes, “Coding will soon replace history and geography under Australia’s revamped national curriculum. Australian students will begin coding at age 10 and computer programming at age 12, Mashable reported. The move was one of the last acts approved by Education Minister Christopher Pyne, who will be sworn in as Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science. The Australian government plans to invest $12 million to strengthen science, technology, engineering and math education initiatives and improve the country’s innovation and economic sectors. The demand for STEM subjects in primary schools has gained momentum worldwide. Last year, the United Kingdom ambitiously changed the national curriculum, which includes coding classes for children as young as five-years-old.”

When it comes to coding, the best education comes when a child is having fun while learning. At CodeRev Kids, we customize our lessons for your child.

Our curriculum focuses on computational thinking, which encompasses a wide range of programming concepts and languages. We adjust starting points to each student’s level of expertise and our lessons build upon one another.

Although our lessons are highly informative, we also pride ourselves on making learning fun. As a result, our students stay engaged and become better coders at the same time.

If you would like to provide your child with a quality, customized coding education, your best bet is CodeRev Kids!

Coding Education, Education

Why Many Schools Are Not Making Investments in Coding

Investing in coding would seem like common sense at this point. However, schools in all parts of the world who have the ability to make that investment are refusing to do so. Consider a recent article for Computer Weekly titled “One-third of schools admit to making no investment in coding training for teachers.”

Claire McDonald of Computer Weekly writes, “One-third of schools admit they have not invested any money in training teachers to deliver the new computing curriculum, according to research. Freedom of information (FOI) requests by enterprise software company MapR have revealed that the support teachers are receiving is inconsistent across the country, with some schools investing nothing in training and others investing more than £3,000. Paul Tarantino, director at MapR Technologies, said: ‘Last year the government pledged £3.5m on new curriculum training. But this information shows that it’s simply not being filtered down so that every young person has a trained teacher. It’s shocking to see such a huge discrepancy in what was said in the run-up to the election compared to what these promises have translated to on the ground.’ Of those asked, 22% were investing over £3,000 on training teachers to deliver the computer science curriculum, 33% spent between £500 and £1,000, while 11% spent between £100 and £500.”

To understand why making an investment in coding is so important, consider a recent article for Forbes titled “How The Coding Explosion Has Changed The Programmer Job Market.” Harsh Patel of Forbes writes, “In the past two decades, the landscape for computer science has changed. Part of this comes from a general increase in education availability: from traditional CS degrees to online learning and coding bootcamps like ours, nearly everyone has access to learn programming if they want to. The other part stems from the technology itself. In the 1990s, coding was based around singular purposes — enterprise applications, self-contained games and custom databases for corporations. In the 2000s, the rapid growth of always-on Internet connections and the emergence of smartphones added new layers of security, small phone-based apps, cloud-based interfaces and databases, and increasingly complex web environments. Now, software systems power everything from tablets to car systems to home appliances. As a result, the United States job market is undergoing a dramatic shift, such that by 2020 nearly one million coding jobs will be unfulfilled based on projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. With the field of computer science rapidly expanding, key traits for smart hiring in the field have changed from even just a few years ago.”

To prepare your child for this job climate where coders are in high demand, you need personalized coding education. At CodeRev Kids, we customize all of our lessons to fit your child’s expertise.

Our lessons emphasize computational thinking, which encompasses a wide range of programming concepts and languages. Students can choose from a variety of different tracks, including robotics, app making, and website development.

Although we are the most educational camp out there, we also keep the focus on having fun. As a result, your child is both engaged and receiving a top flight education at the same time.

If you’re looking to take your child’s coding skills to the next level, check out our afterschool programs and fall classes!

Coding Education, Education

Wired Argues You Should Be Coding in Your Physics Class

CodingAccording to Wired Magazine, if coding isn’t part of your Physics course, something is wrong. Rhett Allain of Wired explores this in a recent article titled “You Should Be Coding in Your Physics Course.”

Allain writes, “IT’S NEAR THE start of a new semester of physics. Many faculty are working on their plans for introductory physics courses. How many tests should there be? What about homework? Do I want to cover fluids? What about numerical calculations? Let’s talk about the numerical calculations. Sadly, I think the majority of physics faculty don’t even consider to include numerical calculations in their physics courses. Of course, by numerical calculations I mean the process of breaking a complicated problem into many smaller (and easier) problems. Since this makes many problems to solve, the simplest strategy is to use some type of computer. Thus some people might call this computational physics or even physics coding. Call it what you like, but I think it’s an important topic to cover in introductory classes. What are some of the reasons faculty don’t include numerical calculations? Here are some common concerns for faculty along with my reply. ‘This is not a computer science class.’ Well, that’s true. This is a physics courses. However, this is also not an English class. Does that mean that there should be no writing or reading? It’s not a math class, but students should still use math. It’s not an art class, but students should still be able to draw force diagrams. Physics is not ONE THING in isolation from all other things. Really, there are no classes that could just stand by themselves. Could you imagine any course that didn’t use words and instead only had pictures? No, that would be difficult. Physics has to use many different fields to study the nature of the universe. That’s what makes it so awesome. Of course it’s not just faculty that say ‘this isn’t a computer class’—students think this too. Here is my response to them.”

If you’re looking to give your child a foundation in coding that could lead to a prosperous career, your best bet is CodeRev Kids. At CodeRev Kids, we customize your child’s coding education, making lessons both highly informative and fun.

Our lessons emphasize computational thinking, which encompasses a wide range of programming concepts and languages. These lessons build upon one another and we adjust starting points to each student’s level of expertise.

Even though we are the most educational tech camp out there, we also keep the focus on having fun. By doing this, our students stay engaged while learning to blend creativity with technology.

Contact us to enroll in or simply learn more about our different afterschool programs.

Coding Curriculum, Education, Skills

Birthday Party Ideas for STEM-minded Kids

mathmaticsDoes your kid love science and math? Are they proud to be interested in the latest technology? Are you looking to throw them a birthday party they won’t forget? Then consider these cool ideas for unique birthday celebrations.

To start off with you’ll need to get your decorations in order. Of course you’ll begin with your typical party supplies like cups, plates, plastic utensils, napkins, and decorations. You’ll also want to pick up some cool science equipment. You may buy or borrow what you need. Some ideas include beakers, flasks, test tubes, safety goggles, magnifying glasses, a copy of the periodic table of the elements, lab coats, microscopes, clipboards, or rocks like pyrite, magnetite, agate, and quartz.

Next you’ll create invitations. If you’re short on time, just pick up a pack from your local party supply store. However, if you’ve got the time, there are tons of ways you can make your own! Perhaps cut a piece of paper into the shape of the flask, then glue green glitter all over it. You might glue the invitation to a container of touchable bubbles. Perhaps you could purchase a dozen mini clipboards and write the party info on an index card you attach it. You might even print out small copies of the periodic table of elements and write the details on the back of it.

Decorations and food are half the fun of the party! Past science projects make great decorations and conversation pieces, you could grow rock crystals and display them at the part, you could cut out squares of construction paper with each of the elements on them and tape them around the room, you might take a table and label it “weird science” and then put putty or odd toys on it.

For unique foods, try molecular fruit: take a melon baller, scoop up fruit like honeydew or watermelon, and then put them together with toothpicks to mimic the molecule chains. You can create elemental sandwiches by cutting sandwiches into fourths and then writing an element’s abbreviation on each one. Or you could get everyone involved and create a dish together! Teach the kids that cooking is science too by creating a pizza bar and watching the dough rise as it cooks.

Your birthday boy or girl probably has some ideas of cool party activities they’d like to do, but them started by suggesting creating a volcano with baking soda and vinegar, buy a fingerprint lifting kit, mix together Mentos and Diet Coke, or print off free safety badges and have each kid customize them.

Of course the perfect gift for a science minded young one is a code camp with CodeREV! Not only will your kid love the experience but they’ll learn potentially life-changing skills.

Coding Curriculum, Coding Education, Education

Making STEM Learning Accessible to Young Children as a Teacher

teacherdeskTeachers in elementary schools these days are starting to hear more and more about the need for early adoption of STEM education. For some elementary school classes, this has proven to be more of a problem than many anticipated. In some cases, teachers have experienced significant pressure to completely re-work their curriculum. As might be expected, some teachers have also struggled to adapt their teaching styles to meet STEM related goals, while also meeting unnecessary goals for standardized testing. This article will discuss some strategies and thoughts for encouraging STEM learning in the classroom while also meeting other learning goals.

The most fundamental aspect of reorienting classrooms activities and mindsets around STEM learning is to change the viewpoint. This may sound like an oversimplification, but really, many lessons can be reoriented towards fundamental STEM concepts. Students can learn to first hypothesize, followed by designing, modelling, experimenting, and repeating with modification in many contexts. Doing this also helps to encourage students to make connections between multiple disciplines. This fosters the ability to synthesize information to find creative solutions, which is one of the most important skills STEM education fosters.

Some institutions have tried to simply add technology to the classroom in an effort to increase STEM education. However, it should be noted that technology is only the ‘T’ in STEM, Adding tech isn’t the only thing, kids need to learn to use tech to make solving STEM problems easier, and they need guidance to do this.

CodeRev Kids is a Santa Monica, California organization which specializes in teaching children to love computers, science and programming through fun and interactive camps and afterschool programs. In addition to offering these programs at their location, CodeRev often coordinates with educators to help bring coding education to schools. If you wish to develop a program CodeRev is experienced and ready to help you create something new and innovative at your institution. They set themselves apart from other organizations with staff that is more knowledgeable and experienced than you find in other computer skills and programming courses for children, who are often also working tech professionals and veteran educators. Check them out today.

Coding Curriculum, Coding Education, Education, Skills

More and More Schools are Recognizing the Importance of Coding

Coding KeyboardIt’s no secret. Coding is becoming more of a necessary skill to have as every week goes by. In order to compete in a global economy, it is becoming essential. In some cases it’s the difference between getting an opportunity and not getting it. Schools are recognizing this and some are taking steps to address the lack of coding education in their institutions. Phys.org takes a look at this in a recent article titled “An education for the 21st century means teaching coding in schools.”

Leon Sterling of Phys.org writes, “There is merit in school students learning coding. We live in a digital world where computer programs underlie everything from business, marketing, aviation, science and medicine, to name several disciplines. During a recent presentation at a radio station, one of our hosts said that IT would have been better background for his career in radio than journalism. There is also a strong case to be made that Australia’s future prosperity will depend on delivering advanced services and digital technology, and that programming will be essential to this end. Computer programs and software are known to be a strong driver of productivity improvements in many fields. Being introduced to coding gives students an appreciation of what can be built with technology. We are surrounded by devices controlled by computers. Understanding how they work, and imagining new devices and services, are enhanced by understanding coding.”

The Huffington Post explores trying to implement coding in the classroom in a recent article titled “How to Implement a Coded Curriculum in Your School.” Peter Hutton of the Huffington Post writes, “So how have we done this? Two years ago we decided to teach students to write code as a problem solving tool in geometry. Geometry is a course where logic, spatial reasoning and problem-solving are the big skills we’re trying to build, and all of those skills can be built through coding. It seemed like a great place to start; the plan was to eventually expand this approach into various other classes in order to fully integrate coding into our curriculum. Surprise! Within two months, teachers in every department in every grade were finding ways coding could expand possibilities for work in their disciplines. English students used code to digitally act out scenes from Macbeth and analyze poetry; art students created drawings like this one; modern language students used code to make vocabulary flashcards; 7th grade history students coded historical statistics. At the end of the year, we discovered that every student in the school had had at least one meaningful experience with writing code.”

While coding in the classroom will go a long way towards advancing the prospects of students throughout the country, customized coding education programs are what will take them to the next level.

CodeREV’s STEM focused courses and tech camps provide the basis for a much deeper education in technology than what students receive at their schools. Our instructors are all industry tested STEM and coding professionals. All of our Tech/Coding classes and camps are project-based, meaning students are applying computational thinking to each coding skill they learn. Also, they are using the highest level processing skills as identified by the Common Core for true comprehension of the material they are learning to use and apply.

If you’re looking for the best coding education for your child, your best bet is CodeREV. Contact us so your child can become a CodeREV Kid!