Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Swift Playgrounds

Swift Playground is the new free iPad app (requires iOS 10.0) for teaching kids how to code.  This is a fantastic app that works very similar to those familiar w/ apps such as Hopscotch or Scratch.  All a user has to do is tap on a "block" of code or drag-n-drop to create commands.  No typing is required.  Once Swift is a downloaded a student can select between two step by step tutorials: Learn to Code 1 (Fundamentals of Swift) or Learn to Code 2 (Beyond the Basics).  Each section is very easy to learn and there is a "hint" button to help those that are stuck.

Also, there are "challenges" (i.e. Drawing Sounds, BattleShip, Brick Breaker, etc.) that users can do to help polish up on their programming skills and begin to create their own games/activities.  Other features include a built-in glossary to help learning programming words/language.  Import your own files/images/sounds to create your own "playground".  Record your own video coding to create a tutorial or to help "Flip a lesson".

Finally, Swift Playground makes it easy to share across iOS devices and integrates w/ iTunes U to make it easy to integrate into the classroom.

I highly recommend checking out Swift Playgrounds by clicking here!!!

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