This week as part of our Rising Resources blog, we’re introducing you to the renowned coding education site, Codecademy. Codecademy has top-notch online coding classes for students of all ages and skill levels. With structured curriculum and immediate feedback, it’s no surprise that 45 million learners use Codecademy for computer science education. Their hook is that if you know how to read, you know how to code, which both underscores the importance of knowing how to code and eases the minds of people by implying that it’s nothing to be too afraid of.
Codecademy was founded in 2011 by two Columbia students and has received great amounts of funding since then. Located in NYC, Codecademy emphasizes their role as an untraditional education company trying to rethink and disrupt the system by providing one of the best online learning experiences. They offer free and paid online coding classes in 12 programming languages, including Python, HTML, JavaScript, and more. They focus on not just teaching programming languages, but how to use that code to develop websites and apps and to analyze data, which, unsurprisingly, sets them apart from other services.
The Codecademy team has partnered with giant companies like Amazon for skill training and the White House for supporting disadvantaged groups. They’ve won awards for Best Education Startup and other technology awards as well. Based on these accolades alone, it’s easy to see why so many school systems are utilizing their services! Codecademy courses can take non-technical students, turn them into coding experts, and truly influence their career opportunities. With quizzes, advisors, and easy-to-follow instructions, students can be coding in a new language in under 11 hours of work!
Right on their homepage, Codecademy has some information that helps students discover what it is they most want to learn based on any future career goals they might have. If they want to master web development, for example, it states that they should start practicing HTML/CSS and JavaScript. If they want more of a computer science focus, on the other hand, Codecademy recommends students spend some time learning Python and CMD Line as these each offer great introductions to coding.
In order to get started with using Codecademy, students first need to create an account with a username, email address, and password. When I created my account, it informed me that I would have seven days to try Codecademy Pro for free and, after the seven days, I could continue paying for Codecademy Pro or opt for the free Codecademy membership. After this, it tries to learn as much as possible about students by focusing on why they want to learn to code and what they’re hoping to do with their coding skills. This helps the site recommend custom lessons based on a student’s abilities, interests, and future goals.
Their premium service, Codecademy Pro, includes quizzes, projects for your portfolio, and customized learning pathways to ensure you are meeting your goals. With additional content and more flexibility, the Pro service offers unlimited practice and learning on the go with their Codecademy GO app. This improved accessibility supports students of all ages whether they are in school or have a job and don’t have the resources or time to enroll in coding classes or bootcamps. Codecademy Pro is offered as a monthly, 6-month, or yearly subscription.
On the dashboard, students can find recommended practice projects to complete and, as they do so, they can earn badges as they progress through the different challenges. There are plenty of projects students can complete right on their computers (at school or at home) and different ways for them to learn about things like syntax, HTML tables, and functions just to name a few. There are some very useful resources on Codecademy and, obviously, students have greater access to them if they opt to pay for more features.
Whether you are a teacher looking for a tested way to introduce coding into your curriculum, or a student hoping to gain or build new skills, Codecademy can help “get you where you’re going faster.” Once you check out the course options and the forum for community coding resources, make sure to head over to our store to see hands-on coding tools for your school. We have everything from classroom kits to robots and much more that can help enrich your school’s coding initiative. Don’t forget to follow us on social media for the latest Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram updates on all things tech related as well!