Coding for Kids
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.
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