Venture Beat
02/18/14
Young kids can acquire foreign languages extremely rapidly. How about computer languages?
Education experts are putting pressure on schools to introduce students to programming concepts. Teachers can now access a slew of new apps and online tools, which have emerged in recent years to teach children to code. Tynker is one of the best known of the bunch, as it’s specifically designed for classroom and at-home learning.
On the Tynker website, parents or teachers can enroll students to access a variety of web-based course content, such as games, quizzes, and interactive tutorials. Parents pay between $30 and $50 per course. Rates for schools vary depending on the content and classroom size.
Tynker claims its online learning service is used by teachers in 8,000 schools across the United States.
In its first year, Tynker has yet to release any mobile applications, despite the persistent demand from parents. But the startup plans to rectify that at the upcoming South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Tex. On March 3 at SXSW, Tynker will launch its iPad application.