We are delighted to bring to you the Tynker iPad app  to make it easy for kids to learn coding at home, and on the go. The  app is a great way for kids with no prior knowledge of programming to learn the basics of logic, and complements our self paced courses and school curriculum.

Tynker’s visual programming language makes it easy for children to get started with programming by simply dragging and dropping visual blocks to build a program. The Tynker iPad app contains puzzles that children solve by programming visual code blocks to achieve a goal. The initial release includes the following adventures to engage kids with appealing story lines:

• Puppy Adventure, where kids use logic and loop variations to help Pixel, the lost puppy, find his way home;
• Lost in Space, where kids learn more advanced programming concepts like conditional logic and apply spatial orientation skills to lead astronaut Biff to his moon base avoiding asteroids and black holes; and
• Sketch Racer, where Snap the Turtle can be programmed to draw complex geometric shapes using simple commands.

As Silicon Valley replaces Wall Street as the destination for the smartest and brightest from American universities, women are being left out of the race.

On the eve of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2014, the statistics of women in computing are shocking. In 1984, more than 37 percent of computer science bachelor’s degrees in the United States were awarded to women. By 1995, the figure had dropped to about 28.5 percent. In 2011 the number slid further to 17.6 percent. (Source: San Jose Mercury News)

Milly Jones just might be the girl to change that slide. And Tynker just might help her do that.

Youngest and Fastest

Milly’s fingers fly over the keyboard as she creates her character using Tynker’s media library. She wants her character, a cowboy, to revolve in a loop. In just a few seconds she has pulled up the code blocks she needs and stacked them on the Tynker workshop. Frowning in concentration, she allots values for the variables – how many loops, how much time per loop – and puts in the commands for starting and stopping the program.

She tries out her mini program and corrects for the cowboy’s movements by moving around the blocks of code. It is fascinating to watch her deftly arrange the blocks and make things happen on screen, particularly since she is only 7 years old.

At 7, Milly is one of the youngest to learn computer programming with Tynker’s home course Introduction to Programming. She completed the entire 16 lessons of the course in just 3 months and has moved on to Tynker’s new course on Game Design, which makes her among the faster learners of the program. Here is one of young Milly’s creations -

Why Tynker?

“It is my responsibility as a parent,” says dad Tim Jones. “The school can only do so much. After that it is up to us as parents to teach our kids what they need to know.” Tim had already enrolled Milly in Khan Academy’s math and computing modules when Tynker came along. Working on Khan Academy’s tutorials and puzzles was an opportunity for Tim and Milly to bond, but Tim noticed that the syntax requirements in the traditional coding program tended to detract from the computational thought process. “She’s only seven, so she would struggle to find all the letters and characters on the keyboard.”

Tim found out about Tynker from a friend. “When I checked it out, I saw that it was more suitable than Khan Academy.”

Mom Sue also likes the fact that Milly can work on Tynker independently. “I don’t have a background in computing, so I would not have been able to help her at all,” she says. “In the process of going through the 16 chapters, Milly must have asked me all of 3 questions!”

Girls and Tynker

Milly is like any other 7-year-old at Almond Elementary in Los Altos, CA. She loves playing dress-up with her sister Lottie and games on the Disney Channel website. She takes swimming, gymnastics, and dance lessons. She also loves Tynker. She likes the badges she wins at the end of each chapter and she enjoys creating princesses and cowboys and making them dance and fight. Says Sue, “In the mornings she has 20-30 minutes when I incentivize her to get ready quickly so she can get her free time on the computer. She always chooses Tynker! Learning is fun for her. What more could I ask for!”

The reality is that there is no intrinsic reason for girls not to take up and enjoy computing. Sociologists analyzing the phenomenon of declining female participation in the tech industry point to a variety of factors. One is the image in popular culture of a computer professional as an awkward male figure. Another is the spoken and unspoken discouragement of girls from the profession, steering them to princesses and fairy tale castles while boys play with technology and trucks.

Tim is keenly aware of this. As a Google employee, he sees the skewed ratio of women to men in his industry firsthand. “Looking around the campus, the evidence is incontrovertible. There are some great female role models in technology that I have come across, but they are a clear minority.”

But, “My reasons for enrolling Milly in Tynker are purely selfish. I did an engineering degree myself and I don’t want Milly to be left behind in a digital economy because of a cultural bias towards pink princesses rather than computers and math.”

In an article on women and computing in the San Jose Mercury News, Harvey Mudd President Maria Klawe, a computer scientist herself, says, “The difference is, [women] in general are much more interested in what you can do with the technology, than with just the technology itself.”

And this is where Tynker comes in. By making programming about actionable items rather than dry syntax, Tynker opens up the computing world to girls, making them comfortable with it and also showing the practical value of what they are learning and doing.

Says Vidya Mandyam, Director of Engineering at Tynker, “Girls are very good at planning, and typically very focused. We are patient and we also have a number of artistic and creative interests. These are the same skills that are required of every good programmer.”

Tim Jones agrees. Though Milly has developed coding skills and learned a lot about computational logic with Tynker, he says, “I am not looking for any programming deliverables. What I am looking for is confidence. I want Milly to think of herself as a person who can program. She has been able to program some very interesting projects with Tynker easily on her own and this has made her want to do more and feel like she can excel.”

And the best part of Milly’s adventures with Tynker is the effect they are having on her younger sister Lottie. Lottie is only 4, but she is “desperate to Tynker too,” says Sue with a laugh.

TechCrunch

03/12/14

Historically, the U.S. educational system has struggled to get young people excited by and involved with STEM-related fields, especially computer science, which has actually seen a steady decline in participation over the last two decades, according to Time Magazine. Luckily, the winds of reform have begun to sweep into education, and parents, educators and even Uncle Sam have begun to pressure on schools to give computer science and engineering concepts a place in their curricula and introduce them in early education.

What’s more, a new generation of startups and app makers have begun to take up the mantle and are working to inspire younguns to take interest in technology and develop their programming skills. One of the most popular apps in this emerging category is Tynker, developed by a Silicon Valley-based education startup of the same name, which aims to make programming and engineering more accessible (and fun) for kids, regardless of prior experience.

Inspired by Scratch, a programming language and free coding education website for kids developed by MIT, Tynker makes use of Javascript, HTML5 and other open web standards to educate children of all ages on the basic thought processes behind lines of code. The product of serial entrepreneurs Srinivas Mandyam, Kelvin Chong and Krishna Vedati, Tynker got its start back in 2012, but has been grown quickly since.

Today, the startup’s learning platform is used by more than 8,000 schools and has helped over six million kids start programming. To support this early growth, Tynker raised $3.25 million in seed funding last year from venture firms like NEA, Felicis Ventures, NewSchools Venture Fund, GSV Advisors and 500 Startups, as well as a litany of angel investors.

Designed for both in-class and at-home learning, Tynker allows both teachers and parents to enroll their children via its website, enabling students to access its catalog of web-based lessons and learning content, which ranges from games and exercises to interactive tutorials to quizzes. To encourage engagement, Tynker has worked to create a fun, game-like environment around computer science education by allowing kids to learn via self-paced lessons, interactive videos and guided tutorials, for example.

Tynker makes its courses available for free for schools, while parents can purchase lessons for between $30 and $50, which includes those guided tutorials and exercises, and gives kids the ability to access different levels and earn badges as they progress. Up until now, the main point of access for Tynker’s learning content has been through its website. But over the past year, the team has been working to bring its platform to mobile devices, and this week the company finally announced the launch of its first iPad app.

Read More…

Tynker’s new iPad app debuted just a few days ago, and we’re already feeling the love! Thank you everyone for your encouraging words and your support on Twitter, Google+  and Facebook.

We are also glad that our app made it to the Best New App in Education on Apple’s App Store!  If you haven’t had a chance to try it get it here.

 Recent quotes about the Tynker iPad App…

“Tynker aims to make programming and engineering more accessible (and fun) for kids, regardless of prior experience,“ says Rip Emson of TechCrunch. He describes the app as “a tablet-optimized, immersive gaming experience that allows kids to continue learning on the go and while in ‘airplane mode’.” Read more: With 5M Users Already on Board, Tynker Goes Mobile to Help Kids Learn to Code on the iPad

Stuart Dredge writes in The Guardian that British parents should find this particularly useful to explore, “ahead of programming’s introduction across the national curriculum later this year, including for pupils as young as five years old.”

“Tynker spontaneously held a hands-on workshop in the [SXSWEdu] playground space that was so popular that the conference had to bring in more chairs.” notes Katrina Stevens in Edsurge.

Jamie Lypka, editor at SMATOOS, an educational app review site, offers an important insight. “The learning curve here is perfect, leaving you feeling accomplished, but never frustrated. It’s a great approach that makes a complicated process into something intuitive and fun!”

We’re thrilled that Tynker’s iPad app has met with approval and praise from not just tech writers and users but also from moms, dads, and teachers…

“My son is very interested in video games and so really loved learning with Tynker,” says Lisa Nelson, founder of Squishable Baby and mom of 3. For Lisa, the power of the app was in the incremental learning with each puzzle.

“All of my kids love to play with the iPad since there are so many amazing games that are available for it.. Tynker teaches programming skills with the use of fun games. I have two boys who are very hands on, and love to build things, so this app was perfect for them to “tinker” around with!” Homeschooling mom of 4, Jennifer finds it a great supplement to her curriculum.

“I’ve been trying out the iPad App for the last few days and have been super impressed with the colorful graphics and interactive yet educational game play,” says blogger Ricky Shetty.  Read more

Melissa Ford’s 9 year son particularly enjoyed Puppy Adventure, saying “it was simple, easy, and fun.” He returned to play it several more times, unlocking all the levels.

Teacher Christian Duckworth of the St. Mary and St. Andrews private school has already made plans to include it in his school curriculum. “I’m planning the curriculum for September 2014 now so it arrived at just the right time!” he says. “It is great fun and will be an excellent addition to our programming lessons.”

Teachers with Apps, who review apps with educational value, say “You will see students immediately become addicted to this app. More importantly, you will see excited, engaged kids having fun, all while Tynker fosters a plethora of critical thinking skills – computational and programming.”

Here are some videos mom and founder of app review site bestappsforkids.org Mary Buchanan created to demonstrate the app as she reviewed it, at the same time commenting that these videos will only “give you a look into a fraction of the opportunities for hours of creativity and learning for your kids.”

After spending time with the Tynker App, parent Patrick Jordan can see why the app is a good fit for kids 4 and up. “I think the fun and charming style of Tynker is a good fit for youngsters of that age.” He adds, “[the Tynker App] does a wonderful job of showing children the power of coding and the great satisfaction that comes with creating even a simple program.”

Pi Day is celebrated around the world on March 14th. Through the ages people have been fascinated by this mathematical constant, because it is an irrational number, and there is no way to calculate it exactly using a calculator or a computer. It is a never-ending sequence after the decimal point.

How many digits of Pi do you know? Take the  Tynker Pi challenge

iGeeksBlog

03/06/14

Sometime last year, top CEOs from the tech industry put together a plan to encourage American schools to take up code-learning and teach it earnestly to kids. Learning to code is one of the best experiences ever and this is from personal experience. Learning to code brings about a radical shift in the way we think analytically, logically and abstractly. And all these are huge benefits to rational and intellectual thinking.

Following up on this premise, Tynker came up with a wonderful way to help kids learn the basics of code and programming: by creating games and animations. Tynker is fun, interactive and sharply focused on teaching the fundamentals of logic without making it all boring.

Teaching code is one of the hardest things. And it’s considered somewhat ‘advanced’ for no particular reason which has kept programming fundamentals out of the core syllabus for kids. But there are a lot of benefits of learning to code from an early age. And by code, we don’t mean starting at a Matrix-like dark screen with green lines of gibberish (relative gibberish).

Code/programming is mostly about how you think logically. That’s what code does to a person’s brain. It helps us think better, in a broader sense. Teaching code to kids can be one of the best things for the kids but how do you take out the boring part of the process and replace it with something fun, interactive and equally effective?

Read More…

USA TODAY

03/16/17

The popularity of Minecraft, a video game that puts kids in the role of creator, has sparked an interest in coding (computer programming). By learning to code, kids can create their own games, websites, apps, pictures and stories while also learning how to think logically and solve problems.

There are apps, websites and even a new board game that turn coding into child’s play. Here are some of my favorites:

MOBILE APPS

Tynker – Learn programming with visual code blocks

Best for ages 8-14, Free, iPad

Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 4)

Kids learn the basics by going on an adventure with Pixel the dog. After a day in the park, Pixel’s family forgot him; you help him get home by programming his path down a sidewalk full of obstacles.

Presented as 20 puzzles, each with a different, progressively-harder goal, the app offers an easy interface for learning and experimenting. Kids build programs to control the dog by dragging and dropping code blocks into the programming workspace. The puzzles start out easy by teaching kids to program the dog to run when touched. To do so, kids drag the code block “run” into the “build-your-program” area and position it below the “when touched” block. The “run” command snaps into place as if it were a puzzle piece. Then kids press the play button to see if what they programmed actually works to meet the specific goal of that puzzle.

Kids will learn to recognize repeating patterns and to program the repetition using loops. The app also introduces conditional logic, so that kids learn to build programs that contain “if…then” codes. For example, kids can program the dog to jump “if” the dog sees a log.

By teaching coding inside a fun story environment, this app isn’t intimidating. Kids learn by experimenting and failing. While the failure means they don’t earn the maximum three possible stars, they can also hit redo and try it again. The app builds in hints; and it rewards programming that contains the fewest possible code blocks.

If your kids like the Puppy Adventure, two other adventures can be purchased inside the app for $1.99 each or $2.99 for both.

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Ten year old twins Karthik and Aditya Mittal do everything together. Both play the guitar and the piano, both love watching Phineas and Ferb, Mythbusters, and Shark Tank. And both Tynker.

When mom and dad are both computer programmers, it’s not surprising that the kids get into coding early. This family shares with us their explorations into programming learning for their children.

Mom Meenal has a degree in computer science and is the business intelligence director of a large company. She is proud to call herself a “technology freak,” and says she has been interested not just in new devices and technologies but also in programming ever since she was 12 years old. “I wanted to inculcate that interest and curiosity in my kids as well,” she adds. “I have always wanted them to learn programming because it enables the mind to think logically and analytically. [They] can process structured and more complex thinking and become better thinkers.”

The boys study at the Challenger School campus in Newark, CA and they did have some exposure to programming at school. “We basically learnt a little bit of typing and Logo,” says Karthik. “I am a really good typist now!” says his twin Aditya, but clearly that was not enough.

Meenal wanted the boys to develop their programming skills beyond what was being taught at their school. She enrolled the twins in an iDTech camp one summer. They enjoyed the week, but she was not sure there was retained learning in that experience. When Meenal signed on to Codecademy to improve her own coding knowledge, the kids were curious enough that she signed them on to Ruby and then Python lessons, and they also tried their hand at Javascript. “When I started running, the boys took up running too,” says Meenal with a laugh. “When I go out biking, they love to bike long distances with me.” So it was no surprise that Karthik and Aditya wanted to code like mom, their biggest role model.

The syntax of the traditional programming languages was a bit overwhelming for the fourth graders and they quickly lost interest in the coding tutorials.

Meenal realized that, despite the twins’ obvious interest in programming, these courses were not helping in retaining that interest, or inspiring them to continue working on knowledge building. When she came across Tynker, the bright, attractive interface and story-line based tutorials seemed engaging and very interesting, and she signed the twins up for the home edition.

The boys were immediately hooked. Says Karthik, “I really liked that Tynker had a story. Ruby and Python didn’t so maybe that’s why I found them boring.” He likes challenges and says “Tynker was easy to begin with, but soon it got a bit harder, and I had to really think to solve some of the puzzles and coding problems.”

“I think I understand coding better with Tynker,” says Aditya. “I learnt new commands that I didn’t know earlier, and that was cool.”

But the clincher for both boys? They actually enjoy programming with Tynker. Meenal believes it is the ability to be creative and build interesting things that makes Tynker engaging and almost addictive. In the boys’ case, the current obsession is game-building.

Karthik is working on an Alien Attack game where the player has to shoot two aliens to win points. “I am at the part where the alien tries to escape. I still haven’t figured out how to make the alien vaporize.” He knows how to “hide” the alien when it is shot but wants the splashy special effect of an explosion!

Here’s the current version of Alien Attack!

Aditya is building a game called “Escape the Rain” where the player has to find a way around giant raindrops. “If a drop touches you it’s ‘Game Over!’” he says.

Both the games have been inspired by existing games in Tynker’s vast library, though the boys are building theirs from the ground up. The Tynker library, that has native programs as well as those built by the thousands of Tynker users, is a huge attraction for the boys. The two of them also recently signed up (and rushed to complete over one weekend!) Tynker’s intermediate-level course specifically for coding games, Game Design 101: The Drone Menace. This helped them learn to program useful game features like collision detection, scoring, lives, using variables, and cloning and skinning the game. The boys found the topic of variables somewhat tough, but once they understood the concept through the course, they say it is proving very useful as they are building their games.

In conclusion, Meenal puts it this way. “Once you learn something on traditional programming languages using an online tutorial, you are basically done. The most important step is actually what comes next – children should want to program on their own and come up with their own projects – and they should remain interested and excited about programming. With Tynker you can use all the great knowledge learnt on the courses and keep working on new creative and challenging projects. The interface is available to continue to program and learn. Then of course there are all those games in the library which act as inspiration for them to practice what they have learned in the courses.”

Tynker also meets this computer scientist’s exacting academic standards. “I feel the courses really do cover the basics of programming logic and thinking very well, and in a structured progressive manner.” For us at Tynker, that’s high praise indeed.

Here’s wishing many more hours of programming, and sharpened thinking skills, to Karthik and Aditya. Code on guys!

Theta Mom

04/01/14

Ever since I started this blog, one of the things I wish I knew how to do was learn how to code. I have seen many of my blogger friends do an amazing job at building their own sites. But, let’s think beyond blogging for a moment – think about how much we utilize technology daily. For many of us, we bank and pay our bills online. We shop online. We communicate online. We conduct business online. Think about the last time you put your mobile device down for more than 24 hours. Pretty impossible, right? That’s because whether you like it or not, rapidly evolving technology is our future. So the real question is, if we are so dependent on technology, how is it that so many of us don’t know how to code?

Perhaps it starts with the fact that for most schools in America, this kind of learning is not being taught in the traditional classroom. When I was in high school, typing was a required course to graduate. In my opinion, the course requirement today should be that every student learns how to program a computer – a skill that is just as important as learning a foreign language these days. Regardless of the career path my children take, one thing is for sure – I will make it my mission that my kids learn how to code.

I was absolutely inspired by this five minute video created by the founders of Code.org, a non-profit dedicated to making computer science programs available in more schools and inspiring a generation of kids to participate in such programs.

“The vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer programming.” -Code.org

I sat down with my son to watch this video and within moments, he too was completely inspired by this mission. At eight years-old, he immediately saw the purpose for why learning to code is important and showed real interest in wanting to try.

Meet Tynker.

Tynker is one of the best web-based apps available today that offers interactive courses for children to learn programming at their own pace. Once you register with a simple email address, you’ll have lifetime access – anytime and anywhere to learn these crucial skills. Tynker makes it so easy to learn at home and even provides a full grade based curriculum for schools.

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On a recent visit to a 5^th grade classroom, we had the opportunity to hear from students and their teacher about why they like Tynker.  Along with kids and parents who are using Tynker at home, Tynker is viewed as an easy and fun way for kids of all ages to get started with programming, to build skills critical for their future.  Let’s hear what they have to say!

Marky Dewhirst got a wake-up call one evening as she was driving home from work. The radio was tuned to NPR and she heard a discussion that suggested that kids should start learning computer programming in elementary school itself or they would be at a disadvantage. When the host said (only half-jokingly), “My daughter’s behind, I think. She’s 4 and hasn’t started coding,” it made Marky pause and consider. With two older children already in college and one in middle school, she realized that she did not want to lose the window of opportunity with her youngest, William, who is a 4th grader at Travis Elementary.

She immediately began doing her research into programming classes and lessons for William and came up with a shortlist of programming learning options, including Tynker.

When she looked up Tynker, she found many attractive features. “I really liked seeing what other kids had built,” she says. She called William over for a look because “When you first start coding, you basically follow instructions and you don’t really know what you’re working towards.  It is important to children to see the end result and goal and get inspired.”

Marky’s instincts were spot-on because William got very excited looking at the possibilities with Tynker. They signed up for the course and William took to Tynker like “a duck to water!” says mom. “One of the things that I am passionate about is that kids should love learning,” she says, feeling very happy about William’s engagement with Tynker. She regrets she didn’t know about the program when her older kids were in school and is encouraging daughter Olivia to look into Tynker. “It would be great if she learned programming too!”

William is now on Chapter 8 of the course. For him Tynker is also a form of relaxation because, as a ballet student, he is used to tough drills and intense practices. His arduous ballet training helps him with the many sports he plays, like basketball, ice hockey, and soccer. Tynker is what he does for fun.

“When my friends told me they learned programming, I wanted to try it too,” he says. “I really like Tynker because you enjoy and learn at the same time.” He admits that he loves the fires, explosions, and robots.

With Dylan, his Labrador-mix dog, and a bunch of pet tortoises to keep him company after school, William is working on a program that can make a character talk and jump at the same time. One of the projects he is proudest of involves a visual joke with puppies and a dragon character! Here it is –

The colorful blocks of code are a revelation to Scott Barboza, William’s dad. “I’ve done a lot of programming over the course of my career,” he says. His work at ExxonMobil entails a lot of analytics and advanced prediction models and he has learned Fortran and C. “I can see the fundamental foundations of programming covered well in Tynker,” says Scott. “While I am not sure how sophisticated a program you can eventually make, it is definitely useful to develop computational thinking.”

“And anyway,” he adds, “syntax keeps changing over time, so understanding programming logic is what is important.” And that is why both parents are glad William is learning well with Tynker, and having a lot of fun while doing so!

The conventional belief has always been that kids interested in programming should develop strong math skills. But teachers and parents around the world are starting to talk about how computer programming can help children build math skills and make math learning more fun.

Michelle Lagos, a computer science teacher at the American school in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, observes, “One of the most common cross curricular benefits of computer programming is that the kids have an easier time learning math skills.” She has started using Tynker in the elementary classes and adds, “When they have to work on long division, it is easier for them to visualize the numbers now instead of counting with their fingers. They visualize the equation and think of the best way to solve it. We have seen kids in many grades improve their math skills.”

Parents are also realizing that programming related activities can make math fun for kids. “My kids ask to program with Tynker because they enjoy it.  I love watching them solve puzzles because of the mathematical thinking required,” says Jennifer Apy, parent of a 15 year old, 11 year old and 8 year old.  “Without realizing it, my kids are identifying attributes and grouping variables, applying conditional logic, developing algorithmic functions, and calculating angles within geometric shapes.  But most of all, they are patiently articulating hypotheses to solve problems, and boldly applying trial-and-error experimentation – strategies required by any field of study.  And this is in addition to some of the coding that requires real math – to correctly calculate wait times, set score counters, calculate points, and time interactions between characters in their games.”

Sri Ramakrishnan of Tynker points out that kids develop stronger math skills when applying concepts in a real-world context. Creating spaceships or saving puppies with Tynker can be a great way for a child to see the application of math strategies. “The computational thinking involved in computer programming involves logic, organizing and analyzing data, and breaking a problem into smaller and more manageable parts. Much of this, if you really think about it, is also required when solving math problems!” she says.

Parents, teachers, and technology specialists are also using Tynker help children visualize abstract math concepts, which can be a hurdle to many kids and put them off the subject. Jesse Thorstad, Technology coordinator for the Fergus Falls Public Schools district in Minnesota states, “Tynker provides kids with a concrete example of the power of decimal places. When studying decimals in math, the students experience a heartwarming ‘Ah-ha!’ moment when they see how moving a decimal block of code can affect the objects on the screen tenfold.”

Tynkering kids also experience the creativity inherent in math. Here is an example of math art that kids can create with Tynker.

10-year-old Jacob Myers, who is a big math buff and regularly competes in math contests, uses Tynker to make math art with spirals and triangles. Can programming make kids perform better with math?  Possibly.  Math teachers think programming is a real-world way to teach mathematical thinking.  When students create or debug a program, they practice problem solving, and they also find that Tynker’s beginning lessons are a great way to incorporate identification of patterns as well.

But the biggest benefit may be that programming makes learning math fun and exciting for kids. Says Jennifer, “If kids realize they are using math when programming Tynker games, it could actually build their confidence with math, and show them that mathematical thinking can be cool.”

Math becoming cool? What could be better than that?

Do you have other examples of how programming helps develop math skills?  Share your stories with us below.

Daily Herald

04/23/14

Your kids are going to use technology, if they don’t already. It’s inevitable. As a parent it can be overwhelming trying to keep up with our kids use of technology. We constantly have to monitor what, when and how much they are using.

As a computer teacher and a mother, I see numerous suggestions for apps and websites that “every parent (or teacher) should be using.” Many of these apps are incredible resources, but the problem with some of them is they only require the user to practice skills such as spelling, math facts, alphabet recognition, and others.

Instead, let’s use technology to help our children create and problem solve. I encourage parents to consider the following three uses of technology.

Help your child create a private blog

Blogs are a great way for kids to start making a positive presence online. Kids want to talk, all the time. Help them share their thoughts and ideas in a private blog (such a sneaky way to get your kids to keep a journal).

Their blog shouldn’t be just a journal though. A blog is the perfect place to save photos of all kinds, like images of that giant science project you spent hours helping them create. Use the webcam. Even before your child can write, they can record themselves using a webcam. Also, make sure that you and other family members subscribe to the blog and comment (think … grandparents, cousins, friends and siblings).

You can adjust the settings in the blog so that only those invited to or with the link may view the blog. The website kidblog.org is one great resource. Google “top 25 kid bloggers” for ideas.

Have your child learn computer code

Learning to code is similar to learning a new language, which we know is beneficial to brain development. Plus, it’s fun and kids love it!

Coding is all about problem solving. There are numerous sites where kids can learn basic to advanced computer coding skills. I used the website light-bot.com to introduce my students to coding.

My coding club students use the program tynker.com. This site allows kids to create simple games and programs of their own for free and more advanced programming for a fee.

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The Bugle

05/17/14

Joliet West High School English teacher Anthony Romanelli recently spearheaded an innovative interdisciplinary project for students in his English 1 class.

The project allowed students to learn the basics of computer coding, while recreating a scene from any material read this year, including Sophocles “Oedipus Rex” play, Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, or any other short stories or nonfiction pieces read throughout the year.

During the project, students were introduced to the principles of programming using Tynker, an online learning platform. Fundamental concepts used by professional programmers are taught to students through fun and easy-to-understand activities. As students create programming projects, they develop important design and problem-solving skills, while learning to think creatively and work collaboratively.

Read More…

Ready, set, play!  If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend, stop by to “Tynker” with our latest apps!  We’re excited to show kids and parents how easy and fun it is to learn programming with Tynker.

Computing is changing the world, and programming is an essential skill.  Tynker makes kids successful creators by putting kids in control — to create what they imagine and bring their ideas to life.  Today, creation is online and mobile – tomorrow, who knows?  Our mission is to empower kids to create in every aspect of their world.

That’s why we’re here at the Maker Faire.  We want to give kids in every community the tools and skills to innovate.  We echo the maker movement’s call to action:  BE A MAKER!

Do you support the maker movement?  Tell us about the amazing things you’ve seen kids create!

Miami Herald

05/29/14

While some of the 280 students at Henry S. West Laboratory School get excited for early release Wednesdays, others look forward to attending their school’s coding club.

Nicolas, an 11-years-old fifth-grader, enjoys coming to the West Lab Coding Club at the Coral Gables school because he gets an opportunity to share ideas with his friends and collaborate on them.

“I like the freedom of what we can make,” said Nicolas, who now wants to become a programmer.

This is the kind of enthusiasm Erika Reed was hoping to foster.

Reed, the founder of West Lab Coding Club and a computer-science alumna from the University of Massachusetts, began the program after searching for computer-science classes for her 7-year-old daughter Sofia. Frustrated with the lack of options, Reed offered to research and develop the club in order to teach her daughter and any other students how to code.

“The response was amazing,” said Reed, who had to hire three assistants to help run a club of about 40 students. “We basically sold out in two days.”

After the kids park their book bags outside of the school’s computer lab, they log-on to Tynker.com. Reed and her assistants hand out instructions asking the students to complete certain coding tasks. Some of these tasks — giving an on-screen character behavioral orders through 15 command blocks. Once the student completes his or her assignment they are then allowed to play MIT coding math games for the remainder of the day.

According to Code.org, a website dedicated to the field of coding education for young children, only 1 out of 10 United States schools offer coding classes to their students.

“We want our children to leave here not only ready for middle school but already thinking about careers,” said Barbara R. Soto Pujadas, Henry S. West Laboratory’s principal.

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Many parents who homeschool their children have adopted Tynker to help their kids learn to code. Why? Not only is it fun and easy for homeschoolers to learn on their own with Tynker, but Tynker easily integrates into individualized learning programs — and it supports so many different areas of learning.

Tynker is proud to announce that, based on our strengths and the support we’ve received from homeschoolers across the country, Calvert Education has selected Tynker to provide their homeschool families with a fun way to introduce programming into their kids’ curricula.

Current uses of Tynker made a compelling case for the Calvert Education team. The following examples demonstrate the kid-driven nature of the Tynker approach, and why it has become a leading choice for teaching programming to homeschool students.

Homeschoolers Use Tynker to Teach Coding and More

“Homeschooling is not about educating your child at home,” says Audrey, mother of Maddie Milne (age 7). “It is about tailoring my child’s education to her strengths.” When Maddie’s father, Duane, looked into adding computer programming to Maddie’s schedule, he did his research and landed on Tynker.  “Tynker is an excellent way to introduce kids to ideas they will need if they want to progress to formal learning in a computer language. If that’s not their interest, it still tells them what’s behind the things they are interested in,” says Duane.  Maddie has used Tynker to make a card for her grandmother’s wedding anniversary and is working on some more cards for friends. “I don’t think Maddie has quite figured out that Tynker is ‘learning’,” says Audrey. “She just enjoys the creativity of it.”

Raja McNeal is another homeschooler who uses Tynker to round out his homeschool academic program.  After evaluating several learn-to-code options, his mother Rani landed on Tynker because of its structured approach — Tynker was built as lessons, meaning that Raja could learn independently and work at his own pace.  Raja can sometimes immerse himself in Tynker. “Homeschooling gives kids the opportunity to pursue their passion, whatever that may be,” says Rani, who decided to include computer programming in Raja’s curriculum because “The younger children can learn a language, the better they are going to be at it, and the more prepared they are going to be for the world awaiting them.” Rani adds, “The basics are the basics, even if the language changes.”

Homeschooled students can use Tynker in so many ways.  Once they complete Tynker’s initial coding lessons, lifetime access to Tynker’s Creativity Suite enables limitless project creation.  Here are some of the ways that students can use Tynker across the curriculum.

     Create an animated story

     Demonstrate understanding of an academic topic or create a quiz 

      Create a game

Summer is a great time for kids to try new things!   They can learn something new, or enjoy a game-like approach to boosting skills that will serve them well during the next school year.  With Tynker, kids can create and share fun projects with their friends this summer, while developing critical computational thinking skills.

To get started, kids can take their inspiration from our Kids’ Creations  gallery.  They can build mini-games, create stories, make a book report, tell jokes, and create birthday cards, invitations, or animations to celebrate the 4th of July.  

Take a look at this lively music video created by a 7th grader.

Kids can also use Tynker to teach others something new (geography quiz, trivia game, math art) or create a fun new way to practice something.  Check out this math game, created by a 6th grader.

When kids complete our online courses, they’ll have the skills to build games they can enjoy playing with their friends, like this scavenger hunt game (we built this using Tynker).  Just click Play to start, and follow the directions (to reset the game, stop then click Play).

Not a Tynkerer yet?  It’s easy to sign up and get started today. Only $50/course, lifetime access.

Want more inspiration? Click on the highlighted projects, made by kids for kids:

<–Animated Story

<–Mini Game

  <–Greeting Card

<–Interactive Jokes

<–Geography Quiz

Here are more project prompts from Tynker.  Improve the game and make it your own!

  <–Ghost Stories (Level: Easy)

  <–Loose Cannon Game (Level:  Intermediate)

 <–Arcade Shooter (Level:  Intermediate)

 <–Brick Breaker Game (Level:  Intermediate)

  <–Mars Invasion Game (Level:  Advanced)

Enjoy a summer of Tynkering!

Palo Alto Unified, a leading California school district on the forefront of technology integration, has just announced its decision to expand use of Tynker district-wide.  “Tynker has been widely adopted by our teachers because it is flexible enough to challenge 8^th graders who are exploring fairly complex programming concepts, while also supporting students as young as five years old to successfully build simple programs,” states Ann Dunkin, CTO of Palo Alto Unified, and a presidential nominee for a key post in the Obama Administration. “Many students who work with Tynker in our schools develop a real interest in computer science and engineering and will be prepared for our rigorous high school computer science program.”

Minnetonka Public School District (MN) and Scarsdale Public School District (NY) also chose Tynker because of its ability to support project-based learning and motivate students across academic disciplines. Tynker’s curriculum and methodology helps students quickly visualize, learn, and apply concepts to create projects that connect their learning across math, science, social science, reading, literature, writing, and art — while also teaching them key technology skills. And because the program progresses year over year, students can build their programming skills over time.

Computer Science-trained educators in Elk River Area School District (MN) selected Tynker because it meets students’ needs right out of the box. Unlike other solutions the district evaluated, Tynker did not need to be tailored to meet the needs of more advanced middle school students. Tynker enables students to rapidly learn programming fundamentals and then continue to progress, providing a smooth on-ramp for them to learn mainstream programming languages such as JavaScript.

In addition to the broad coverage of grade-specific learning objectives that Tynker’s curriculum offers, Palo Alto Unified School District (CA) selected Tynker for district-wide deployment after observing that even teachers without coding experience were able to get up and running fast, and students were able to progress at their own pace.  Many of their teachers have already integrated Tynker into classroom lessons, and have discovered that coding with Tynker is a very popular lunchtime and after-school activity.

According to Minnetonka’s Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, Eric Schneider, “Tomorrow’s jobs will require at least some level of knowledge or comfort in the area of computer programming.  Our cellphones, tablets, and electronic devices aren’t magic boxes; they’re small computers that will provide high-level jobs for the next generation of computer scientists and digital entrepreneurs.  We want our students to be at the front of that wave, and Tynker is helping us get there.”

To date, over 8 million students and 10,000 schools and school districts have started programming with Tynker because of its fun, easy approach to helping children learn to code.  Whether a school district wants to rapidly elevate their primary and middle school programs to integrate 21st century computational thinking skills across all academic areas and grade levels, or provide a structured, scaffolded approach to teaching fundamental programming concepts, Tynker has become the solution of choice.

Tynker is being featured as a hot ed tech company this weekend in Atlanta!  In less than a year, over 10,000 schools have used Tynker’s easy to use web-based creative computing platform to teach programming, and over 8 million students have started learning to code with Tynker.

Programming is rapidly gaining importance as a skill kids need to become tomorrow’s innovators and creators. Tynker has earned a reputation as the easy way for kids to learn programming with an engaging, game-like, learn-on-your-own approach – recommended by parents, homeschoolers, teachers – and kids.

With Tynker, teachers can teach the way they want, and no programming experience is required.  Schools and districts that recognize the need to rapidly accelerate integration of programming skills into their academic programs are diving right in and adopting Tynker.  Evaluation of Tynker across the country has led to similar conclusions – Tynker’s flexibility conveniently addresses a wide variety of school and district needs and challenges when integrating programming skills into established academic programs.  Palo Alto Unified School District, and others, are leading the way with their district-wide adoptions of Tynker. “Tynker was the perfect choice.  The flexibility of the Premium multi-grade-level curriculum to support both formal programming and project-based learning ensures wide adoption by our teachers,” states Ann Dunkin, CTO of PAUSD.

With ready-to-use lesson plans for each grade, covering programming concepts from beginner to advanced, plus time-saving teacher tools and the ability to easily measure performance across the district, Tynker School/District is easily the best value.  As stated by Minnetonka’s Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, Eric Schneider, “Tynker’s teacher-dashboard gives teachers a clear picture of how each student is performing.  This is important to us because very few of our 370 K-5 teachers are experts in computer programming.  The dashboard gives our teachers the confidence to embrace this new curriculum in a way that sets us up for success.”

If a school or district has not yet adopted Tynker, an individual teacher can easily get access to a ready-to-use lesson plan and teacher tools with Tynker Classroom, launched this weekend at ISTE2014.  Tynker Classroom includes  a 12-week ready-to-use lesson plan, built-in tutoring, student assessments, a gradebook, and several time-saving tools, for up to 30 students for a year.  “Tynker Classroom offers teachers the opportunity to be successful, fast.  It’s especially useful for teachers who perhaps have wanted to do more with programming in the classroom, but do not have time to prepare lesson plans or think about how to use programming to support core standards.  Tynker Classroom will give them what they need  to get started, including comprehensive teacher dashboards, ‘right out of the box’,”  states Kevin Elgan, Tynker’s Director of School Marketing.

Tynker is giving teachers a 25% limited-time discount on a Tynker Classroom purchase made by credit card via Tynker’s website.  Just click on this link to learn more, and to receive special pricing at checkout (discounted price will be confirmed on the payment page) through July 31, 2014.