Apple has announced a new set of tools to help educators teach coding to students from grade school to college. In addition to enhancements to the Develop in Swift and Everyone Can Code curricula, Apple is also starting a new professional learning course for Develop in Swift, available to educators at no cost.
The course is designed to supplement the need for computer science educators in the US, and helps instructors of all skill levels build foundational knowledge to teach app development with Swift. In addition, with many institutions operating remotely, Apple is adding resources for educators and parents to help ensure they have the tools they need to help students learn and grow from anywhere.
“Apple has worked alongside educators for 40 years, and we’re especially proud to see how Develop in Swift and Everyone Can Code have been instrumental in helping teachers and students make an impact in their communities,” says Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Markets, Apps, and Services, in a press release.
Apple is enhancing its Develop in Swift and Everyone Can Code coding curricula. Develop in Swift is geared toward high school and higher education students, and teaches both Swift, an open-source programming language designed by Apple, and Xcode on Mac to new and experienced coders. Everyone Can Code introduces coding to students in grades 4 through 8, and uses puzzles and games to help teach the building blocks of Swift through the Swift Playgrounds app.
Prescott says the Develop in Swift curriculum is now completely redesigned to meet student learning styles, based on educator input continuously sourced by Apple. The new series includes four books: “Develop in Swift Explorations,” “Develop in Swift AP CS Principles,” and “Develop in Swift Fundamentals,” which are all live today, and “Develop in Swift Data Collections,” which will be available this fall. The curriculum is available free in Apple Books.
Apple is also releasing the next set of books in its Everyone Can Code curriculum today. “Everyone Can Code Adventures” is designed for students who have already completed “Everyone Can Code Puzzles” and offers more advanced opportunities to build with Swift code. Students will learn about important programming concepts used in app development as they work through more challenging lessons in Swift Playgrounds. The “Everyone Can Code Adventures” student and teacher guides are now available for free in Apple Books.
The Computer Science Teachers Association notes that fewer than 50% of all American high schools offer computer science classes and many college students aren’t able to get into the computer science courses needed to graduate, partly due to an ongoing shortage of educators available to instruct them. In an effort to help, Apple will begin offering a new, free online professional learning course for educators.
Taught by Apple experts, the course will help instructors with all levels of ability acquire the skills they need to teach Swift and Xcode, making this an ideal introductory course for teaching the Develop in Swift curriculum. Interested educators can sign up today to participate in the course, which will be available July 13 through the Canvas Learning Management System.
To support parents with kids learning to code at home, Apple is adding a new guide to its set of remote learning resources. “A Quick Start to Code” is now available and features 10 coding challenges designed for learners ages 10 and up, on iPad or Mac. Additional resources are available on Apple’s new Learning from Home website, launched this spring, where educators and parents can access on-demand videos and virtual conferences on remote learning, and schedule free one-on-one virtual coaching sessions, all hosted by educators at Apple. New videos are being added all the time as part of the Apple Education Learning Series — including videos about using Apple’s industry-leading accessibility features.
In 2016, Apple launched Everyone Can Code, a comprehensive program and curriculum to help students of all abilities, from kindergarten to college, learn coding to solve problems and prepare them for the workforce. Develop in Swift was released in 2019, and today more than 9,000 K-12 and higher education institutions worldwide are using the Everyone Can Code and Develop in Swift curricula from Apple.
