Beginning with programming as a newbie can as well as simple as some would make you to believe. But it is not as easy as it seems; the trouble lies with picking the right programming apps for pc, android and other devices. But an experienced programmer will advise you to start off with the basic things first before venturing into complex ones.
The easiest way to begin programming is by using a high-level language that will require no knowledge about the software known as interpreters or compilers. You could also start today by downloading coding apps for pc or android devices.
Enki
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: Yes
- Android version: 4.4+
Enki is yet another popular and successful coding app for your Android smartphone. The app offers more than 1500 lessons on over two dozen topics including Python, SQL, JavaScript, Blockchain, CSS, HTML, Spreadsheets, Webflow, and much more.
Every topic comes with a structured learning curriculum. You can set daily goals and keep track of your progress. The app offers a summary of the main concept for each lesson. There are also interactive quizzes to put your knowledge to the test. Like a workout app, Enki also offers exercises every day so you’re always on track to achieve your goals.
edX
When talking about teaching tools it’s hard not to mention Open edX which is an open-source platform where at teachers’ disposal are different authoring tools and plugins for creation and course management. This way the most effective materials could be selected, organized, or created and students’ learning process could be thoroughly planned and optimized which would result in the outcome being more successful and expected.
If you decided to create an online course with Open edX you can include in its content videos and text along with the variety of practice exercises, reading assignments, questions, homework and exams. The convenient design with visual cues and the simplicity of reorganisation and content publishing make the experience that much more pleasant. You can provide course discussions for different kinds of clarifications, collaborations and sharing with your students. Also you can assign students to a cohort group and create a different course content to different cohort groups. Another interesting features are the ability to deliver sets of randomized problems to your students by using randomized content blocks, create libraries, embed a Google Drive (with its docs, spreadsheets and images) or a Google calendar to highlight the important dates, line exam or a quiz. You can also configure digital certificates for the successful completion of your course which can be printed or shared.
As you can see there are a lot of opportunities with this tool. Open edX is a place where students and teachers from all over the world are involved in an evolutionary teaching and learning experience.
CODING FOR KIDS 8 AND ABOVE?
- Hopscotch is a free iPad app for upper elementary and above. Wesley Fryer has curated resources for Hopscotch in the classroom that are full of challenges that you can use with students. He also recommends activating the emoji keyboard (go to Settings > General > Keyboards) for use with the program.
- Scratch is a programming game that can be downloaded or used online and is supported by MIT. It has a powerful Hour of Code tutorial in which students can program a holiday card in their web browser. If you want options for other times of the year, use the one-hour Speed Racer activity to teach your students Scratch. Teachers can watch this tutorial, visit ScratchEd’s Hour of Code Ideas forum to ask questions, or search “hour of code” in the forum for lesson plans using everything from coordinate geometry to Latin. Scratch is considered acceptable for beginners. (Some educators use Snap, originally a version of Scratch but now written in JavaScript; it is supported by University of California at Berkeley. There are several alternatives to Scratch with a similar interface. Give this list to your IT department if there are technical reasons why you can’t run Scratch or Snap.)
- Lightbot is a puzzle game with a free version that lasts an hour and full versions for sale on iTunes and Google Play. It teaches planning, testing, debugging, procedures, and loops.
- Alice is a popular platform with a unique storytelling aspect. You can use it to create a game, tell a story, or make an animated video. Like Scratch, Alice is free and supported by a powerful community of educators. There are two versions of Alice. The newer 3.0 version still has a few bugs but sports many new, very cool animations. This long-standing platform is a rewarding tool that kids will want to keep using past the initial hour. Alice is considered more for the intermediate student, but experienced teachers can use it with beginners.
Udacity appUDACITY
The best thing about this app is the many choices of coding you can learn. From HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, and other- this app offers courses taught by industry leaders from places like Google and Facebook. The app is free for many of the courses, but if you opt for the premium version of the app- you can gain access to feedback from those in their field and connect with other’s learning how to code as well. This is more than a platform to learn, but it helps build a community and make connections with those interested in coding. Some of the premium courses recently released can actually teach you how to build artificial intelligence as well, but can be a bit pricey ranging from $1000-$2400 a course.
CODING FOR THE YOUNGEST STUDENTS ?
- Tynker Games: Use these age-appropriate games to teach your elementary students coding concepts. From Puppy Adventures to Math Art and Maze Craze, you’ll find games that students in grades 1–8 will enjoy. Tynker also has a curriculum and STEM product library that you may want to peruse if you’re interested in combining programming with social studies, English, math, and science.
- Kodable started as an app targeted to students as young as kindergarten age, but it’s now a complete curriculum. The first 30 levels are free, more than enough for an hour of code. Kodable is recommended for ages 5 and up, but there are stories of kids even younger using the app with great success. Students don’t need to know how to read in order to program using this game.
codehubCODEHUB
CodeHub is the best platform if you are dedicated to learning to code quickly and efficiently. Each course has 50 lessons in total, so it gives a vast amount of information and you can choose to take the courses however you feel most comfortable learning. The lessons which are divided into 4 levels, giving you the ability to choose your category of strengths in each department so if you have any prior coding knowledge you can skip the basics.https://buy.tinypass.com/checkout/template/cacheableShow?aid=Yj2fRrCPpu&templateId=OTMNB56G6EFU&templateVariantId=OTVOUG74XV25B&offerId=fakeOfferId&experienceId=EXGN95RALR3S&iframeId=offer_1776f44bca9355cd0d5c-0&displayMode=inline&pianoIdUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fauth.forbes.com%2Fid%2F&widget=template&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com
SoloLearn (Learning tool)
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: Yes
- Android version: Varies with device
SoloLearn has one of the largest collections of free computer coding and programming content. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced learner, this app has something for everyone. You can learn web development, including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and JQuery, as well as several coding languages such as Python, Java, C, C++, C#, PHP, SQL, Machine Learning, and a lot more. New content is added regularly, so there’s no limit to what you can learn.
A community of friendly coders is there to provide you with all the necessary support to help make you feel at home. You can write and run real code in the app’s mobile code editor. There are also various assignments to test your knowledge. You must receive a passing score to move onto the next chapter of your coding lesson.
Programming Hub
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: Yes
- Android version: Varies with device
Programming Hub boasts a collection of over 5000 programs or code examples in more than 20 programming languages, and a mobile compiler that it claims is the fastest in the world. So it essentially bundles all your programming needs into one package, and that makes it one of the best coding apps for Android.
This app offers courses on HTML, Javascript, C, C++, C#, Swift, Python, R Programming, Java, Artificial Intelligence, CSS, and many other similar topics. Expert-created bite-sized, interactive courses make learning fun and enjoyable. Lessons are presented in story format with quizzes after each section to test your knowledge. Programming Hub also features a text to speech functionality.
Khan AcademyKHAN ACADEMY
Khan Academy has more than 6000 videos about the fundamentals of computer science. The app provides free video tutorials and exercises and their mission is to change the nature of education by providing free educational courses. They also provide an intro about making web pages, drawing and animation courses.
Udemy
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: Yes
- Android version: 6.0+
Udemy is an online learning platform featuring over 130,000 video courses covering more than 2,000 topics. As far as coding is concerned, you get courses on everything from web development and game development to coding basics and programming languages (Python, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, Swift, C#, and more).
Since Udemy is kind of an online marketplace where experts offer lessons on various topics, teaching styles may differ greatly. We recommend you check previews before enrolling in a paid course. However, having a real person on the other hand does help make learning easier, as you would always get the right answers for your questions.
Once you’ve enrolled in a course on Udemy, you’ll have lifetime access to the content. You can also download the courses for offline access anytime anywhere.
ScratchJr
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: No
- Android version: Varies with device
ScratchJr is a drag-and-drop visual programming environment designed to introduce programming skills to kids. There are characters and backgrounds, as well as a kind of programming script in the form of interlocking blocks. These blocks cause the characters to perform certain actions – move, jump, dance, disappear/reappear, and more. Kids can customize colors, add sounds, and created an animated story along the way.
While the interface is designed to appeal to kids, the programming blocks are only explained in the text instructions. So this app requires a lot of guided practice in the beginning. However, once your kids have gotten a grove of it, possibilities are endless and the app is very well-structured to keep your kids engaged for hours.
Conclusion
Learning to code is hard. There are tons of different programming languages you can choose from, but if you’re just getting started on your coding journey, these are few platforms I think are the best coding apps for beginners.