Tekkie Uni is proud to announce that we’ve partnered with Amazon France to bring free online coding classes to hundreds of French children, who like many kids all over the world, are home from school during the Coronavirus global pandemic.
An unprecedented number of children are out of school
According to data from UNESCO, 91% of the world’s learners are out of school right now, and 188 countries have shut down their schools nationwide. France is one of those countries, with 15 million students out of school, 4.3 million of whom are in elementary school and 6 million of whom are in secondary school.
While such bans are necessary, they’re hard on parents and children alike, many of whom have come to rely on school for learning, creativity, and social interaction. That’s where Tekkie Uni and Amazon France come in.
Camps for kids aged 8-13
To support kids who are home from school in France, Tekkie Uni offered two coding camps: Scratch coding camp, for kids aged 8 and 9, and Application Development camp, for kids aged 10-13. Both courses required two weeks of commitment from kids, and both allowed kids to learn in the safety of their own homes. Tuition was fully supported by Amazon France.
In the Scratch coding camp, kids learn the basics of coding through Scratch programming, a platform developed specifically to teach coding to kids. Scratch teaches block coding — kids use prewritten blocks of code to build their own projects and will create their own games, videos, and stories.
In Application Development, older kids build their very own applications. Their apps include both graphics and sound, and then, once they learn how to debug their apps (something they’ll do with some help from their friends in class) they’ll be able to install their apps on their smartphones.
“The courses are very comprehensive,” said Gorki the father of Ethan Benalal. “The teacher knows how to support those who have problems or are lagging behind and being able to record the course so you can view it at any time is great.”
Learning — together — from home
There were 400 registrants for two semesters worth of coding camps; 213 kids enrolled in our first two-week semester, which just ended with a more than 90 percent attendance rate and several happy reviews from kids and parents.
“My daughter loves it and she manages on her own which amazes me,” wrote Ludovic Lesur, the father of 8-year-old Siena.
“These courses allow me to learn and develop my skills quickly while having fun,” wrote 11-year-old Mathias Muratori-Taioli.
The second semester is just starting this week, with 190 kids.
