Apps for Good becomes an International Partner of Code.org

Nov 25, 2024
News
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For the past decade, Apps for Good students have benefited from using Code.org’s App Lab within our introductory computing courses. We are thrilled to share that we have now become an International Partner of Code.org.

App Lab is a programming environment where students can design an app, using drag and drop blocks of code. It is intuitive to use and has the perfect look and feel to engage young learners in an Apps for Good course.

Through the new International Partnership, the Apps for Good community will continue to benefit from App Lab – in 2024 alone, through our courses approximately 840 teachers have engaged in delivering App Lab to students and over 20k UK students signed-up to App Lab last year.

Natalie Moore, CEO of Apps for Good said, “The International Partners will enable us to broaden and strengthen support to teachers and students based in the UK as well as our long term partner, CDI Portugal. Within introductory computing, App Lab is a great tool to develop students’ digital skills and practical competencies, preparing them for the future of work. We’re looking forward to sharing and learning with this international education community”

Hadi Partovi, CEO and co-founder of Code.org said, “The Code.org team is excited to welcome Apps for Good into our global computer science community. Access to foundational computer science courses can have a profound impact on a student’s future and through this partnership, we expand access to so many students across the UK with App Lab and App for Good’s introductory computing courses.”

The schools we engage with love using App Lab. Principal Teacher of Computing at St Paul's RC Academy in Dundee, Fraser Christie said "I have used App Lab a fair bit now with a variety of year groups and I am very impressed with it, it works really well, it’s reliable and easy for pupils to work with under a minimum amount of supervision." Fraser describes App Lab as ‘a good mixture of a creative and technical challenge’ when students take their idea from paper and into App Lab, to create a working prototype that they could show to people and get feedback on.

It has a huge impact on students too – Emily, a student at Daubeney Academy, told us that coding using App Lab is one of the main skills she developed through doing an Apps for Good course and Jamal, a student at Shireland Collegiate Academy, says that coding with App Lab influenced his interest to study computing at GCSE (the UK’s national qualification for 16 year olds).

As an education charity (not-for-profit and non-governmental), Apps for Good is committed to offering introductory computing courses to all young people, who regardless of their background, can develop the digital innovation skills to thrive in an ever-changing world.

If you would you like to book a 1:1 introduction to Apps for Good’s courses, contact Kathy Sheppard-Barnes, one of our in-house former teachers and our Education Community Manager –education@appsforgood.org

About Code.org

Code.org is a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by young women and students from other underrepresented groups. Our vision is that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their core K-12 education. The leading provider of K-12 computer science curriculum in the largest school districts in the United States, Code.org also created the annual Hour of Code campaign, which has engaged more than 15% of all students in the world.