Apple debuts new Everyone Can Code resources for early learners

The company's new initiatives are part of the existing Everyone Can Code endeavor. One of the new additions is an activity guide dubbed Everyone Can Code Early Learners, which is meant to help educators and families introduce coding to young students.

Everyone Can Code Early Learners uses specific activities, including off-screen tasks, to help guide students in kindergarten through third grade in discussing, discovering, and building a foundation in core coding concepts through other subjects like science, art, and music.

Additionally, Apple is encouraging students and educators to participate in its introductory Inclusive App Design activity. The session helps teachers guide students through turning their ideas into apps with both inclusion and accessibility in mind.

The goal of the activity is to help learners identify problems that they are passionate about. From there, it instructs them through a process of planning, prototyping, and coding creative solutions to that problem.

Along with the new activity guide and session, Apple is also planning updates to the Schoolwork app that will add support for a survey tool called exit tickets. Exit tickets allow teachers to check in with their students during or after class in an effort to gauge comprehension and engagement.

In addition, another update to Schoolwork allows teachers to create accounts for their students with "little to no IT involvement."

"Coding and app design are essential literacies — these skills help students think critically and creatively, regardless of whether they go on to be app developers," said Susan Prescott, Apple's VP of Education and Enterprise Marketing.

Apple now offers coding resources for learners from kindergarten to college, and challenges them to design amazing apps that are inclusive and accessible to users. Our resources and support for educators are designed to prepare students to be the innovators of tomorrow, whether they're just getting started or ready to build their first apps.

Apple is encouraging educators and learners to take part in the Inclusive App Design activity during Europe Code Week, which runs from Oct. 9 through Oct. 24, and Computer Science Week, which takes place between Dec. 6 and Dec. 12.

The Everyone Can Code Early Learners guide is available starting Tuesday, and can be downloaded in English, Dutch, French, Germany, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish, with more languages to follow.