Coding for Kids
KidsWire
04/11/13
Recently-founded Tynker is on a mission to help children develop computational thinking and programming skills. The company has launched its free Tynker Learning Platform for elementary and middle schools and teachers across the United States and Canada.
With pre-packaged lesson plans, hands-free interactive tutorials, advanced lesson generation tools and paperless workflow for assigning and grading programming projects, the Tynker Learning Platform provides a modern solution for teaching programming and STEM skills in schools.
The platform aims to educate young children in critical thinking, enabling them to learn complex programming concepts through a platform that is relevant to their ages and interests.
Tynker’s digital curriculum mixes learning and fun so that kids can engage in learning activities including developing animations and mobile games, crafting music, creating e-books and fictional robots and more.
The web-based Tynker Workshop features a “watch-learn-do” visual programming language similar to modern programming languages. By learning the visual programming language, kids can create programs and apps that range in complexity from simple to challenging in a short amount of time.
Flexibility is a foundational element of the Tynker platform. Teachers choose how they want to incorporate it. For example, they could use Tynker as an end-to-end platform to teach a structured programming course, a tool to aid and enhance learning in subjects like math and physics or as a means for student expression in projects, field trips, or creative writing.
Tynker was founded in 2012 by a team of entrepreneurs who realized that their own children had limited alternatives to developing STEM excellence and computational skills. The company is backed by top-tier educational investors including Felicis Ventures, 500 Startups, GSV Capital, NEA, New School Ventures and others.
