New Digital Literacy course teaches coding basics with TouchDevelop
“Build Your First App” – a free two-hour eCourse – launched today at www.microsoft.com/digitalliteracy this is the newest addition to the Microsoft Digital Literacy Curriculum.
The course is a collaboration among Microsoft Learning experiences, Microsoft Research, and Microsoft YouthSpark. Students start on a path to learning computer science and are inspired to use Microsoft tools and platforms as they build their first apps
If your interested in the Touchdevelop course see at https://aka.ms/buildyourfirstapp
· Learn the layout and elements of the TouchDevelop programming environment, and create your own account.
· Learn programming principles that apply across all target devices – including lines of code, loops, variables, and conditional statements.
· Create physics-based games that include sprites, touch input, and use of a device’s accelerometer.
TouchDevelop, from Microsoft Research, lets you write scripts on mobile devices and traditional PCs. It is one of only three Microsoft tools to be included in “Hour of Code,” along with Kodu and Small Basic. TouchDevelop scripts can be exported to the Windows Store or Windows Phone Store, or shared as cross-platform HTML5 Web Apps. By learning the fundamentals of programming and a scripting language, students are well prepared to move on to HTML5, JavaScript, and more.
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About this course
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The course is immediately available online at www.microsoft.com/digitalliteracy and soon will be released on MLX so IT Academy teachers can assign it to students and track student progress.
Presenter Steven Edouard guides learners through the course. Steven is a Software Development Engineer in Test for Microsoft Visual Studio, where he works on infrastructure and validation tools for the .NET runtime.
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Author Peli de Halleux is a Senior Research Software Development Engineer in Microsoft Research, where he works on TouchDevelop, Moles, rise4fun, and Code Digger.
Both Steven and Peli teach Computer Science at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle as part of the TEALS program and have facilitated several live TouchDevelop workshops. They were featured in the New York Times for their work with TEALS: “Fostering Tech Talent in Schools”
This course is a great resource to attract students to computer science by leveraging their interest in apps. The students will learn how to become a creator of technology using a Microsoft environment … even if they are running an iPad! -- Peli de Halleux