AKTUALIZACE
20 října 2022
Apple celebrates a decade of Europe Code Week
Apple has been a proud supporter of Europe Code Week since day one, working with educators, students, policymakers, and coding enthusiasts across Europe to celebrate problem-solving, creativity, and collaboration through coding. This year marks a decade of volunteer and community activity to spotlight the importance of coding and digital skills across Europe.
To help educators celebrate Europe Code Week, Apple created the Celebrating You Educator Guide and the Inclusive App Design activity. Celebrating You includes a starter project for learners to code their own sample app in Swift Playgrounds, personalized to celebrate a place or tradition that’s important to them. The guide is translated into languages across 18 countries in the region, including Ukrainian for the first time. The accompanying Inclusive App Design guide helps students turn their passions and ideas into apps with inclusion and accessibility in mind.
“Apple has been a proud supporter of Code Week over the years, working alongside the European Commission to help people across the continent learn this important skill,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. Watch this video on why Apple celebrates Europe Code Week.
Apple has worked alongside teachers for more than four decades, with the belief that the effective use of technology can unlock the potential of all learners. From the new Apple Education Community, to its Everyone Can Code resources and the Swift Playgrounds app, Apple and its partner educators have seen firsthand how creativity through coding can increase student engagement and enhance learning outcomes.
“At Apple, we see coding as a universal language — an essential tool to encourage critical thinking, spark creativity, and unlock opportunities. We’re proud to support the European Commission’s efforts to expand access to coding for learners of all backgrounds and abilities,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations and Education and Enterprise Marketing. “We are committed to providing coding resources for all learners, from teaching coding fundamentals through to app development, so that new and experienced developers alike can build apps that solve problems they care about in their communities, and the world.”
Swift Playgrounds takes learners from their first line of code to building their first app using Swift, Apple’s powerful and intuitive modern programming language. And Apple’s Everyone Can Code resources help introduce students to the concepts behind the code, and provide on-device exercises to practice coding and problem-solving. To support learners of all abilities, built-in accessibility features on iPad enable students who are blind or have low vision to navigate coding puzzles with tactile graphics that can be printed in embossed braille.
“Coding helps improve many aspects of students’ growth: adaptability, patience, and resourcefulness,” said Chiara Franceschini, a maths and physics teacher at Liceo Scientifico Bonsignori secondary school in Remedello, Italy. Franceschini is learning to code along with her students, supported by Apple Distinguished Educator Giovanna Busconi. “With Swift Playgrounds, we are able to learn together. When the students are coding, each problem can be solved through multiple different solutions, so they need to articulate their reasoning and talk through their approaches with one another. It’s rewarding, and shows my students that there’s no shame in asking questions, and that problem-solving can be achieved collaboratively and creatively.”
Coding for the Future
Outside of the classroom, coding is a critical tool for workforce readiness. In 2021, the iOS app economy continued its track record as an engine of economic growth and opportunity, supporting 2.2 million jobs in Europe and helping small businesses find more success than ever.
Apple works to help app developers hone their coding skills as students, and also as entrepreneurs, through both academic and professional support programs.
Opened in collaboration with the University of Naples Federico II in 2016, the Naples Developer Academy offers students a free nine-month training program that covers coding, design, and professional skills, and prepares students to start their own businesses. To date, more than 2,000 students from over 60 countries have graduated. An additional 3,000 students have gone through Apple’s four-week courses offered in partnership with universities and nonprofits across Europe.
In addition to the Apple Developer Academy, Apple creates opportunities for European entrepreneurs through the App Store Foundations Program, now offered in 30 countries in the region since its 2018 launch in France. Last month, the program launched in the UK with an initial focus on female founders. More than 1,000 European developers have now participated in the program overall.
German app developer Leonard Mehlig, an alumni of the App Store Foundations Program, taught himself to code in Swift. He credits the skills he gained for enabling him to build Structured, an app that helps users plan their day, create tasks, and focus on achieving their goals by removing distractions. “Almost everything in my professional life happened because I one day decided to learn to code,” said Mehlig. “I was able to fly to California for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, work at some incredible companies, study computer science, and finally build Structured.”
“I believe the best way to learn coding is to have an idea for an app and just try building it step by step,” Mehlig added. “In Swift, you can see real results very early on and adjust as you go along. With coding, you can build so many great things with almost no tools that could have a real impact on people at the other end of the world.”
In France, Apple has also been working with Simplon since 2019 to provide free app development and coding training for job seekers from diverse backgrounds. A new Advanced Apple Foundation Program, launched in September 2022, combines coding resources with apprenticeship opportunities to provide real-world workforce experience for students. Program participants will graduate with an industry-level Bac+3 certification for app development.
“Opportunities in the tech sector are abundant, so training jobseekers in this field is the best way to allow them to reclaim their career path and explore their potential,” said Frédéric Bardeau, Simplon’s co-founder and president. “Thanks to the Apple Foundation Program and the App Store’s remarkable ecosystem, our learners are strengthening their skillset and have the tools they need to become professionals in mobile app development.”
During Code Week, Apple is making it easier than ever for customers to learn to code by doubling the number of available Get Started with Swift sessions in stores across Europe. This session is offered year round as part of Apple’s Today at Apple program — free daily sessions in all Apple Store locations led by Creative Pros to help customers learn how to enhance their creative projects and artistic passions using Apple products. In the past five years, Apple has hosted more than 60,000 Today at Apple coding sessions online and in person across the region.
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