Apple today announced that it has overhauled its Everyone Can Code curriculum to bring it to more elementary and middle school students around the world.
The new curriculum includes more resources for teachers, a new guide for students, and updated Swift Coding Club materials. The refreshed materials build on existing interactive puzzles and activities to make coding more approachable and connected to students' every day lives.
Apple is adding Everyone Can Code Puzzles to the new student guide in Swift Playgrounds, and each chapter will let students build on core coding concepts and experiment with new techniques. The teacher guide will provide teachers with the tools necessary to bring coding into their classrooms.
The new curriculum includes the Everyone Can Create project guides, which Apple says will help students "express what they learn through drawing, music, videos and photos."
According to Apple, millions of students in more than 5,000 schools worldwide use the Everyone Can Code curriculum.
From December 1 to December 15, Apple is also offering free Today at Apple coding sessions that are set to be held at Apple Stores. The aim of the classes is to teach attendees to write their first lines of code in order to celebrate Computer Science Education Week.
Apple says that the sessions will provide opportunities for students of all skill levels. Those starting out will explore block-based coding with robots, while those with more experience will be able to use Swift Playgrounds to learn coding concepts or code an augmented reality experience.
Some Apple retail stores will also be offering special sessions designed for coders of all ages, including preschool-age kids, who will be able to learn pre-coding activities through the Coding Lab with "Helpsters," one of the Apple TV+ shows.
Apple is supporting Hour of Code this year with an Hour of Code Facilitator Guide that will help educators and parents host sessions using Swift Playgrounds and educational apps from the App Store.
