Why is coding so important, especially now?
With the closure of schools in March 2020, more than nine million students did not have the high-speed home internet required for online learning. There is a parent/caregiver technology knowledge divide with many of the required programs needed to transition to remote learning. The high-speed internet access divide will negatively impact students. They will trail behind their digitally connected peers and classmates, forcing them to wait for paper packets with limited instruction and support.
Apple has been a silent frontrunner in the distance-learning space since the first iPad launched in 2010. Recently, Apple announced updates to its Everyone Can Code curriculum, which introduces students to the world of coding through interactive activities. It is designed to take students all the way from writing their first lines of Swift code to building their first apps.
Coding helps kids with communication, creativity, math, and imagination. Apple recently launched its new Learning from Home website. Educators and parents can access on-demand videos and virtual conferences on remote learning plus schedule free one-on-one virtual coaching sessions, all hosted by educators at Apple. “Without coding, computers would literally do nothing,” said Travis Addair, a senior software engineer at Uber. “They would be completely useless.”
The next generation of entrepreneurs are facing the new possibility of self-paced online learning and will need skills to meet the needs of a post-COVID-19 world.
