Since July, I’ve been lucky enough to be on an internship at the Walt Disney Company in London as part of the Disney Interactive team. As part of my volunteering duties I’ve been teaching kids how to code, which has opened my eyes to how many fantastic online tutorials are out there, as well as coding courses. Here’s my top 5 picks for people of all ages who are aspiring to learn to code:
Moana: Hour of Code
One cool thing I recently got to do was teach kids how to use this tutorial in the gaming area of a festive party. As it’s new, I’d never played it up until the day before, and I haven’t used any block based coding tutorials before, but I found it really fun! It starts off pretty simple and gets more complex with each level which means that it’s great for all ages, because even younger kids can give it a go even if they don’t manage to complete the game without help. At the end, you get some creative freedom by creating your own dance for the Kakamora, and you can print a certificate of completion.
Codecademy
I love Codecademy, and have used it in the past to teach myself the basics of various coding languages and improve on others. There’s loads of languages to choose from, including HTML & CSS, Javascript, PHP, Ruby, Python, Java and more! There’s even activity based tutorials such as how to deploy a website and learn the command line. The courses are very much based on ‘learning by doing’ as they take you through a step by step guide using 3 panes - instructions, input and output.
Udemy
Udemy is a website where you can learn pretty much everything there is about anything - from coding and design to business and fitness. Many of the courses offered require payment, however there are lots that are free - browse through the ‘Development’ section and you’ll find over 300 free courses from Java basics to Android development. As Udemy allows anyone to become an instructor, some courses will be better than others though. Make sure that you check out the ratings to determine how suitable it is for you! It’s mainly based on video tutorials so goes well alongside other more hands-on tutorials like the ones listed here.
Code Monster
I found this little guy whilst searching for new tutorials that are fun for all ages, and he really caught my attention. Code Monster is such a simple tool that it gets you straight into coding from the very beginning, for the impatient amongst us! The thing that I like about Code Monster is the ability to jump in and out of the programme and come right back to where you were without having to create an account, and once you’ve loaded up the initial page you can use it offline - great for when you know you won’t have an internet connection.
Liverpool Girl Geeks
Of course, none of these things are quite like learning from real people who can provide tailored feedback and help, whilst being amongst like-minded geeks. Get yourself down to Liverpool Girl Geeks ‘Get Your Head Around Code’ events and have some fun whilst learning to be a coding genius! (Shameful plug, but totes relevant).
Written by Rose Cairns