Preferred Partner Spotlight: Vidcode
The Vision
The 3 Vidcode founders, Alexendra Diracles, Melissa Halfon and Leandra Tejedor, met in Winter 2014. They were driven by the same vision: to fill the gap in learn-to-code tools between Scratch, for younger students, and Codecademy, which was focused on adults. There were tools available for students already interested in learning to code, but nothing that would have grabbed our attention as teenage girls. Vidcode looks to fill that gap in technology by grabbing the attention of teens who otherwise would have had no interest in coding.
The Inspiration
Students and teachers need a tool that meets them where they where they are by lowering the entry level barrier to learning and teaching coding.
Vidcode does this by making programming playful and fun, and lowering the intimidation factor of learning to code. This makes a big difference for teachers who are worried about teaching a subject they’re not comfortable with. Vidcode has tools for completely non-technical teachers to give them everything they need to teach computer science. This challenge that Vidcode is solving is only getting bigger as governments and districts place more and more emphasis on computer science integration in the classroom.
We’re very proud that we’ve been successful in reaching students that other platforms haven’t. Our userbase is 60% female, which is double of most other learn-to-code platforms.
The Future
The creative potential of Vidcode is only going to expand in the future. Students will be able to learn to code by creating projects around audio, computer vision, and virtual reality.
We also plan to expand and localize Vidcode to reach students in every part of the world. We’re already starting by working with technical colleges in the UK and the governments of Paraguay and Argentina.
In addition, we want to create a robust community on Vidcode. This will enable students and educators to find inspiration and learn by searching and remixing projects, and sharing ideas with each other. They will also share ideas on how to best use Vidcode inside and outside the classroom.
The Testimonial
Shanti Crawford, a teacher from New York City, had this to say about working with Vidcode in her classroom.
Thank you for one of the best professional development courses I’ve ever taken. It was substantial, social, fun, and inspiring. A great combo for busy teachers!
With regards to the Vidcode experience—the tutorials are great. It’s all the best of parts from Hour of Code. I like having that sidebar with encouragement and quizzes. Also the built-in projects and curriculum are terrific. I’ve only ever used Scratch and having to research the overwhelming amount of curriculum on ScratchEd can be daunting when pressed for time. Much of the usability stems from smart choices. I really like that there are a few carefully chosen videos and graphics. Students often (understandably) waste precious classroom time looking at all the Scratch sprites they could possibly use.
Your stories are incredible too. Vidcode feels like such a team effort, everyone has an area of expertise that contributes to a super learning tool. In contrast to Scratch or Alice, (I don’t mean to be overly negative about Scratch—I think it is a great learning tool too) that are put out by Universities, these CS experiences still uphold the programming stereotype—a group of men with academic backgrounds. You completely normalize coding. I can see this as something I do in my daily life—I just made a T-Rex Rainbow meme for my 4 year old daughter!
Again thanks. I am one exhausted teacher at this point in the year so to feel this amount of excitement and inspiration is just amazing.
If you have any questions, email us at info@pledgecents.com.
