First Look is a series from the Tech-Savvy Teachers featuring innovative services, hardware and software from our exploration of conference vendor floors from around the country.
ISTE 2016 had many interesting new technologies and vendors, many of which we will be featuring over the summer. One of the standouts is the company Vidcode. Vidcode has created a platform for students, especially teen girls, to learn how to code.
There mission:
Vidcode began with shared passions. The first was a love for what we do. Tech is creative and exciting. Yet, as women professionals in computer science, we felt a mutual chagrin that tech is still so male dominated. This led us to the second passion – to find a way to teach girls that coding and working in tech is creative and cool! So we spoke with girls. We learned about the disconnect girls feel from computer science classes (we knew how that felt), and the misperceptions, i.e., tech is boring. Soon after, we created Vidcode, a video coding platform designed with girls in mind that is not only self-expressive, but paired with a hobby girls love – creating and sharing videos. As we continue to introduce Vidcode in schools, camps and leadership programs, one thing is clear; girls love it!
Getting started with Vidcode is easy and Free! Schools that have Google Apps for education enjoy single sign on with existing GAFE accounts. Once in students have access to projects that leverage video as an initial hook to engage users in coding to impact their own video or graphics.
Once students upload a video or graphic they can start coding over the top. The side by side coding window and video gives instant feedback to the student as they code.
Bookmark this site and add it to your list of Keep Kids Coding sites! Let us know how it works with your class in the comments section below.