Apple brings coding education to more students for Computer Science Education Week

Apple today unveiled new resources designed to bring coding education through the Everyone Can Code program to even more students around the world. Starting today, customers can register for thousands of free Hour of Code sessions, available at all Apple Store locations around the world from 1 through 14 December.

The company also introduced Swift Coding Club materials to help teach coding outside of the classroom with Swift, Apple’s easy-to-learn programming language used by professional developers to create world-class apps. And to help prepare and develop students for the workforce, the company unveiled new Advanced Placement curriculum and App Development with Swift certification.

For the sixth year, Apple will host Hour of Code daily coding sessions through Today at Apple from 1 through 14 December. The sessions will provide opportunities for people at a variety of skill levels to learn coding. Kids Hour sessions will help aspiring coders aged six to 12 explore coding with robots, while those aged 12 and above can attend sessions using Swift Playgrounds and iPad to learn coding concepts.

To celebrate Computer Science Education Week, Apple created a new Hour of Code Facilitator Guide to help educators host sessions in their classroom using Swift Playgrounds and other iPad apps. Swift Playgrounds is available as a free download in the App Store in 15 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Japanese.

To teach coding outside of the classroom, a new Swift Coding Club kit gives teachers, students and club mentors the tools they need to start their own coding clubs. The new kit gives students aged 8 and up the ability to collaborate, prototype apps and explore how coding can make a difference in their communities using fun activities from Swift Playgrounds and App Development with Swift. 

The App Development with Swift curriculum gives secondary and university students the critical skills they need to qualify for high-demand and high-skill jobs.

Students can also earn a certification that recognises their knowledge of Swift, app developer tools and core components of apps. The App Development with Swift Level 1 certification exams are offered through Certiport Authorised Testing Centres worldwide.

In 2016, Apple launched Everyone Can Code, a comprehensive program and curriculum to help students from kindergarten to university and beyond learn coding to solve problems and prepare them for the workforce. With teacher guides and lessons, students learn the basics on iPad with Swift Playgrounds, which uses real code to solve puzzles and control characters with just a tap. And App Development with Swift helps aspiring app developers build their first iOS apps. Today more than 5,000 schools and universities worldwide are using Everyone Can Code curriculum.

Apple’s Everyone Can Code joins Everyone Can Create as one-of-a-kind programs for teachers that help engage students in learning while building new skills in fun and meaningful ways. Designed to help unleash kids’ creativity, Everyone Can Create teaches students to develop and communicate ideas through drawing, music, video and photos on iPad.