Apple Inc said on Thursday it was rolling out a free online coding course for teachers, while beefing up its existing school coding programs with new material.
The Cupertino, California-based company, which offers coding courses under the "Develop in Swift" and "Everyone Can Code" banners, said the new course is designed to supplement the need for computer science educators in the United States.
The new course will help instructors build foundational knowledge to enable them to teach app development with Apple's open source programming language Swift.
"Everyone Can Code" courses are aimed at beginners, while its "Develop in Swift" programs focus on advanced coders.
Apple said it is also redesigning and adding resources to these existing programs.
The "Develop in Swift" series will include four new books that will be available in the fall at no cost in Apple Books.
Apple is enhancing its Develop in Swift and Everyone Can Code coding curricula. Develop in Swift is geared toward high school and higher education students, and teaches both Swift, a powerful and intuitive open-source programming language designed by Apple, and Xcode on Mac to new and experienced coders. Everyone Can Code introduces coding to students in grades 4 through 8, and uses puzzles and games to help teach the building blocks of Swift through the Swift Playgrounds app.
“The new Develop in Swift curriculum helps our students develop the technical and soft skills employers are looking for,” said Bill Skrzypczak, who teaches a two-year associate degree program in mobile app design and development at McHenry County College in Illinois. “I’m proud that 100 percent of our graduates have gained employment with an average salary of $70,000 to $100,000, including both our returning adult and traditional students.”
The iPhone maker will also add a new set of books in its "Everyone Can Code" course that uses puzzles and games to teach Swift through its Swift Playgrounds App.
Online learning has emerged as the new norm with U.S. schools and colleges shutting down since mid-March to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The trend may continue for the upcoming fall semester for colleges and universities with Harvard announcing that the 2020-2021 academic year will be online.