Free Resources

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Please let me know of other options available steve@k12coding.org, and please visit the Kids and Screen Time page.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Agent Cubes Online  Online. Ages 7+

Free software developed by Scalable Game Design that has mission to, “Reinventing computer science in public schools by motivating & educating all students including women and underrepresented communities to learn about computer science through game design.”

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GWcb3aG2w0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01gnWU7CKew

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Alice  Software Ages 7+

Using an innovative programming environment to support the creation of 3D animations, the Alice Project provides tools and materials for teaching and learning computational thinking, problem solving, and computer programming across a spectrum of ages and grade levels.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm7bv4wduTI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMQpmsXZtbQ

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App Inventor  Online and Software Ages 7+

MIT App Inventor is a blocks-based programming tool that allows everyone, even novices, to start programming and build fully functional apps for Android devices. Newcomers to App Inventor can have their first app up and running in an hour or less, and can program more complex apps in significantly less time than with more traditional, text-based languages.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNjGAiOrX-o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0yxJSlC00w

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Blockly Games  Online and software Ages 7+

Blockly Games is a series of educational games that teach programming. It is designed for children who have not had prior experience with computer programming. By the end of these games, players are ready to use conventional text-based languages. Blockly Games is a Google project to encourage tomorrow’s programmers. The games are designed to be self-paced and self-teaching. Feel free to use Blockly Games both inside and outside the classroom. All code is open source, see the developer’s website for more info or to download zip files for offline use.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqjIC7OXGZA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCiBfLu2-q0

botlogic.us  Online Ages 3+

BotLogic.us is an educational puzzle game that challenges kids and adults to tackle complex logic problems while teaching valuable programming concepts. Using simple commands (and eventually code), players program their bots to navigate through progressively challenging mazes. As their skills improve, players earn rewards by using the fewest number of commands and go head-to-head with friends in programming tournaments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVEvKvfmMO8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLrzf3y3rNE

Code Avengers Online Ages 10+

Courses in JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3. Intro courses are free, with additional courses starting at $29.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY2EsUCRYYs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1lfBnQfdZY

Code.org  Online Ages 4+

Launched in 2013, Code.org is a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science by making it available in more schools, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Our vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science. We believe computer science and computer programming should be part of the core curriculum in education, alongside other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, such as biology, physics, chemistry and algebra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIu9yen5nc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1-paxNG4kw

Codecademy  Online Ages 11+

Misson: We are rethinking education from the bottom up. The web has rethought nearly everything – commerce, social networking, healthcare, and more. We are building the education the world needs – the first truly net native education. We take more cues from Facebook and Zynga in creating an engaging educational experience than we do from the classroom. Education is broken. Come help us build the education the world deserves.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjQ7XaMNQNc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxlCBAp6c6c&spfreload=1

CodeCombat  Online Age 9+ First 80 levels free and then $9.99 for monthly subscription

If you want to learn to program, you don’t need lessons. You need to write a lot of code and have a great time doing it. That’s what programming is about. It’s gotta be fun. Not fun like yay a badge but fun like NO MOM I HAVE TO FINISH THE LEVEL! That’s why CodeCombat is a multiplayer game, not a gamified lesson course. We won’t stop until you can’t stop–but this time, that’s a good thing. If you’re going to get addicted to some game, get addicted to this one and become one of the wizards of the tech age.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zjaA13k-dA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvFGBtpEwgw

Code Fights  Online.  Ages 12+

Find opponents from across the globe and engage in real-time code battles. As your level increases your opponents will get stronger. Prove that you deserve to be on the leaderboard.

Track and measure your performances with our built in analytics. See how your programming skills compare to others and witness your skills improve as you codefight your way into being a code ninja. After all, practice makes perfect! Get coins for solving challenges and use those coins to join tournaments, buy boosters and much more. Earn some of the coolest badges to build the best coder’s profile.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaK8J0cxL8c

Code Monster Online and Software Ages 9+

Code Monster from Crunchzilla is an interactive tutorial for kids that focuses on action. Code changes immediately yield visible results.  Projects start with simple boxes and colors, rapidly progressing into exciting experiments with simple animation and fractals. Important programming concepts like variables, loops, conditionals, expressions, and functions are introduced by example.  Code Monster is a gentle and fun introduction to programming concepts. It is a first step in learning to program. It is not intended to teach all of computer science and programming.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5xotaY_CTw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho4RcOv6_K0

Computer Science Unplugged

CS Unplugged is a collection of free learning activities that teach Computer Science through engaging games and puzzles that use cards, string, crayons and lots of running around. We originally developed this so that young students could dive head-first into computer science, experiencing the kinds of questions and challenges that computer scientists experience, but without having to learn programming first.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOYy4kyLEHs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpDDPWVn5-Q

Coursera.org  Online Ages 13+

Offers free online classes for all types of subjects including computer programming. Required age will vary depending on course, but most of these are taught via universities.

edX Online Ages 13+  

Very similar to Coursera.org, where a number of free online classes for all types of subjects including computer programming. Required age will vary depending on course, but most of these are taught via universities.

Gamestar Mechanic: Online, software.  Ages 7-14.  Free basic version, $19.95 full version

Registering an account at Gamestar Mechanic is free and includes access to your first game design Quest, the ability to make and publish your own games, and access to the Gamestar Mechanic community. “Addison’s Complete Quest” is our full introduction to game design and is now available for a one-time cost of $19.95. School accounts for $2 per student.

Gamestar Mechanic is a game and community designed to teach kids the principles of game design and systems thinking in a highly engaging environment. It is designed for 7- to 14-year-olds but is open to everyone. We’ve included features in Gamestar that make it useful for kids playing the game on their own or with family members at home, as well as in moderated and educational settings.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzvlq3Mi0KU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUp8uRy0SZ0

Google CS First  Online and Software Ages 9-14

CS First is a free program that increases student access and exposure to computer science (CS) education through after-school, in-school, and summer programs. All clubs are run by teachers and/or community volunteers.

Our materials:

• are completely free and available online
• are targeted at students in grades 4th-8th (ages 9-14)
• can be tailored to fit your schedule and needs
• involve block-based coding using Scratch and are themed to attract students with varied interests

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLX9bDgmXBc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1diFp6SakE

Google Made w/ Code  Online Ages 4+

“Made with Code builds on our long­-standing commitment to increasing diversity in Computer Science. Since 2010 we’ve invested $40 million in organizations like Code.org, Girls Who Code, NCWIT and Black Girls Code. We are committing an additional $50 million over the next three years to further these efforts. We started Made with Code because even though increasingly more aspects in our lives are powered by technology, women aren’t represented in the companies, labs, research, creative arts, design, organizations, and boardrooms that make technology happen. Computer Science can make the world more beautiful, more usable, more safe, more kind, more innovative, more healthy, and more funny, but we need to help more girls find relevant ways to interact with it.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo11JJgj1cU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y__fFMxdgY&index=2&list=PL590L5WQmH8e1lSaffhrkjE3bxmj1-u7I

Hackety Hack  Software Ages: 11-16

Hackety Hack will teach you the absolute basics of programming from the ground up. No previous programming experience is needed. With Hackety Hack, you’ll learn the Ruby programming language. Ruby is used for all kinds of programs, including desktop applications and websites.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nASiWhsbkX0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyT80jcbH88

HTML5 Rocks  Online Age: 12+

Another Google project that provides wide variety of online tutorials.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmqKnEG-6GA

JS Dares  Online Ages 13+

JS Dares is an experimental educational programming environment. You can learn by playing “dares” created by other users, or explore the “computational universe” on your own. If you already know programming, you can create dares and share them with the world.

All the code for jsdares was written in JavaScript by Jan Paul Posma for a masters dissertation at the University of Oxford. The code is available under the MIT license on GitHub. You can also view the thesis online.

Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDMaAorPMj0

Karel Programming Course Online and Software Ages 9+  

Schools get 10 free accounts, and then $5 a student a month.  Clubs can get 10 licenses for $50 a month and individual licenses are $30 per course.  

Help a robot find his missing friend by solving fun programming games and puzzles! Write programs in a simplified Python language, and become ready for your next course in Python programming. Python is a premiere programming language of modern engineering and science.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMrebNHXMT4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQvFXq4Em64

KhanAcademy  Online Ages 8+

Learn how to program drawings, animations, and games using JavaScript & ProcessingJS, or learn how to create webpages with HTML & CSS. You can share whatever you create, explore what others have created and learn from each other!

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIndU6kmH58

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsDOHy8pHTg

Kodu Software Ages 8+

Kodu lets kids create games on the PC and Xbox via a simple visual programming language. Kodu can be used to teach creativity, problem solving, storytelling, as well as programming. Anyone can use Kodu to make a game, young children as well as adults with no design or programming skills.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWUyPpwQllE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4UTkrQFqP0&list=PL44F75F2470A54ADD

Learn to Code the Hard Way Online Ages 10+

Books on learning Python, Ruby, C, SQL, Regex.  While these books are available for free online, and some have video tutorials, you can and should pay the $29.95 per book if you find them valuable and can afford it.  

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94kf10C0sCI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9kC70vhRnw&list=PLCHnubFzFwjJVEvQk-FuEynAuwGV_4BNS

Microsoft Small Basic Software Ages: 10-16

Small Basic is a project that is focused at making programming accessible and easy for beginners. It consists of three distinct pieces:The Language; The Programming Environment; and Libraries.

The Language draws its inspiration from an early variant of BASIC but is based on the modern .Net Framework Platform. The Environment is simple but rich in features, offering beginners several of the benefits that professional programmers have come to expect of a worthy IDE. A rich set of Libraries help beginners learn by writing compelling and interesting programs.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqDJvMVjrFg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR9w0vQAMtg

MIT Open Course Ware  Online Ages 14+

Introduction to Computer Science and Programming: This course aims to provide students with an understanding of the role computation can play in solving problems. It also aims to help students, regardless of their major, to feel justifiably confident of their ability to write small programs that allow them to accomplish useful goals. The course uses the Python programming language.

Mozilla Thimble at Webmaker.org  Online Ages 10+

Thimble makes it ridiculously simple to create and share your own web pages. Write and edit HTML and CSS right in your browser, then instantly preview your work. Host and share your finished projects with a single click. Perfect for beginners and experts alike.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIZJIkmCi6A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2naTVuJbW_g

Odin Project  Online  Ages 10+

Ruby Rails: Learning to code on your own sucks. It’s time consuming, difficult to stay motivated, and lonely. To top it all off, you usually don’t even know if you’re learning the right stuff, whether the goal is to build the website you want, start a startup, or get a job as a web developer.

The Odin Project is one of those “What I wish I had when I was learning” resources. Not everyone has access to a computer science education or the funds to attend an intensive coding school and neither of those is right for everyone anyway. This project is designed to fill in the gap for people who are trying to hack it on their own but still want a high quality education.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GcvIf-sFe4&list=PL4DTA0C-oHc2w8kiHUuRMO6fOnSaJce7s&index=2

Penjee  

Penjee will help you to learn how to code by solving fun challenges. Let’s start right away!

Whenever you solve each challenge, a green button will be shown.

Programmr Online Ages 12+

Programmr is an online interactive lab for students and enthusiasts to learn, practice and become proficient in programming.  At Programmr you can code, compile & run projects right in the browser in almost any language. Code & run command-line programs, web applications, mobile apps, database apps as well as rich media apps right in the browser.

With our new Auto-faculty module, you can assess your skills in any popular programming language by taking hands-on exercises. with our B2B API, anyone can integrate live code widgets right into their site just like Youtube videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOFC80udDFA

Robozzle Online Ages 6+

Robozzle tasks you with guiding a robot through a series of mazes using limited commands. The levels range from those suitable for younger children right up to puzzles that will make seasoned coders scratch their heads. It’s free to play through browsers (using Silverlight), and community support enables players to create, vote, and comment on new levels.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmqBVWi_Pc0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqz7fi51GRU&list=PLwAX_Bwbts_erykPGwPbKlxE9lvzh9HYn

RubyMonk  Online Ages 10+

CodeMonk is an online platform to learn and teach programming in an interactive, collaborative and engaging environment. In a world where teaching and learning is no longer a one-off transaction, CodeMonk aims to fill the gap by helping programmers learn and level up continuously.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjHd13NX8-0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRGI0TfTVwc

Run Macro! Online and Apps. Ages 6-12

Play an epic adventure game and have fun while learning to code i.e. program computers. Use visual instructions to guide Marco through a series of levels as he tries to discover himself. In this journey you will learn how to think as a professional developer one step at a time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6-0w4tPV_k

Scratch Online, Software, Apps Ages 8+ Scratch Jr. Apps only Ages 5+

Scratch is a programming language and an online community where children can program and share interactive media such as stories, games, and animation with people from all over the world. As children create with Scratch, they learn to think creatively, work collaboratively, and reason systematically. Scratch is designed and maintained by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab.

Videos:

Scratch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pxaFzRtx7k

Scratch Jr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LENiKemzvF8

Snap! Software, Ages 8+

Snap! (formerly BYOB) is a visual, drag-and-drop programming language. It is an extended reimplementation of Scratch (a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab) that allows you to Build Your Own Blocks. It also features first class lists, first class procedures, and continuations. These added capabilities make it suitable for a serious introduction to computer science for high school or college students. Snap! runs in your browser. It is implemented using Javascript, which is designed to limit the ability of browser-based software to affect your computer.

Changed name from BYOB to Snap! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu5G9TCse3U

SQLZoo Online, Ages 12+

SQLZoo includes tutorials and reference to support people learning SQL. SQLZoo features: Interactive access to several SQL engines; sample databases; practical exercise; and instant feedback on the success of the student’s attempts.

Stack Overflow Online, Ages 8+

Stack Overflow is a question and answer site for professional and enthusiast programmers. It’s 100% free, no registration required.

Stencyl Software, Ages 6+  Free to web publish, $99 publish web and Desktop, and $199 publish to web, Desktop, Android, IOS.

Stencyl is a powerful game creation toolset, centered around an intuitive block-snapping interface and a friendly, helpful community. With Stencyl, students can produce their own games without programming, play them on their computers and mobile devices, and distribute them for anyone to play on the iOS App Store and Google Play.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNhdHTof4to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXGpK0uLbiY

Teaching Kids Programming Software with online videos.  Ages 10-14

We believe that the crisis of having too few students choosing to study computer programming in high school and college can be solved. TKP courseware is engaging, imaginative, and is designed to be taught in a social classroom setting. Our courseware inspires deep thought and delighted laughter from students between the ages of 10-14.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/tkpjava

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD32gGTSYQs

Turtle Academy Online, Ages 7-13.

The project contains a client side learning environment and a compiler for the Logo Programming language.The project enables to learn the Logo language and programming principles and can be used for programming logo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djGxYSWvKYU

Free Resources    

Commercial Resources

Apps

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