Coding First

What Coding First is

Coding First is a coding and STEAM curriculum that schools adopt for their computer science lessons, delivered through its own online learning system. The About page calls the company "an international STEAM curriculum supplier to schools worldwide" and says it operates in China, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Armenia and Dubai and serves over 12000 students. The same page says it was founded in March 2017 with the goal of providing computer and coding literacy courses to students over 5 years of age. The site's footer names the company as Coding First Education Technology FZE.

Its main reader is a school: a head of IT, a computer science teacher or a director looking for a ready-made curriculum with the teaching materials and class tools around it. Students and parents use the same platform, logging in to follow lessons and take quizzes. The company's stated mission is "To Develop A Generation of Leaders in Technology", and its vision is to make computer literacy and coding education available to schools worldwide "at affordable rates."

The course catalog

The catalog is split into three school levels, and the range is wide for a curriculum supplier.

Primary courses are mostly block-based: Basics of block programming (Scratch Junior Level I), Game Development Basics (Scratch Junior Level II), Introduction to Coding Logic, Basics Of Scratch, Game development with Scratch at Levels I and II, Advanced Game Programming With Scratch (Level III), Artificial Intelligence for Juniors, Introduction to Mouse Coding, Coding with Dash and Dot, and Introduction to Makey-Makey.

Middle school moves into text code, design and hardware: Introduction to Creative Computing (P5.js Level I), Game Programming in P5.js (Level II), Introduction to Web Development with HTML and CSS, Web development with JavaScript, 3D Design at Levels I and II, Introduction to mBot Robotics, Introduction to Micro:Bit and Micro:Bit Programming in JS.

High school covers Introduction to Python (Level I), Advanced concepts in Python (Level II), Introduction to Data Analytics, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, Game Development With JavaScript, Introduction to Virtual Reality, and Arduino Electronics Programming at an introductory and an advanced level.

Each course card gives a grade band, a length in hours and a timeframe of a quarter or a semester. Examples from the teacher page and the course pages:

• Scratch Junior Level I: grades 1-3, 15 hours, one quarter.
• Introduction to Coding Logic: grades 1-3, 25 hours, one semester.
• Basics Of Scratch: grades 4-7, 15 hours, one quarter, no prerequisite.
• Advanced Game Programming With Scratch (Level III): grades 4-7, 46 hours, one semester.
• Artificial Intelligence for Juniors: grades 4-7, 20 hours, one semester.
• 3D Design Level I: grades 7-10, 13 hours, one quarter; Level II runs 15 hours.
• Introduction to mBot Robotics: grades 7-10, 26 hours, one semester.

Inside a course

The course pages show how lessons are built. Basics Of Scratch introduces the Scratch block categories (motion, looks, sounds, events, control, sensing and operators) over five units, from the Scratch interface to sprites and backgrounds, motion and control, events and sensing, and visual effects. Its featured student projects are called Dancing Queen, Abby's Magic Trick and Desert Treat.

3D Design Level I teaches 3D modeling in Tinkercad. Students start with the principles of three-dimensional design, then build everyday objects such as a phone stand and a pen holder, move on to a dice and architectural elements, and end with a personal collection of 3D models. The page notes that the models can be turned into physical objects through 3D printing. Featured projects are a house, a customized cup and an ice cream.

The Introduction to Programming page (grades 1-3) describes coding puzzles, projects and stories built in graphical, block-based software, with "100+ fun learning hours" and coding challenges and quizzes. Its learning goals are logic building, the coordinate system, game design, conditional statements, the concept of time (delays and speed) and sequence and loops. It lists no prerequisites, a self-learning platform with "Hands-on sessions conducted by experts for concept clearing and doubt solving", periodic quizzes and assignments, and a course completion certificate.

What teachers get

The Teachers page lists the materials that come with every course: step-by-step videos for beginners and advanced learners, presentation slides, interactive exercises, real-world coding projects, assignments to assess understanding, and detailed lesson plans that guide a teacher through each topic. The pitch is that a school can run a computer science or robotics program without writing its own material.

Three tools sit around the content. A cloud-based IDE runs in the browser, supports multiple programming languages and needs no installation. A learning management system handles attendance, assignments, student progress and grades. And the class management tools let teachers track lessons, assign and grade projects, monitor progress and communicate, with class rosters and real-time analytics built in. The About page adds that students "can learn how to code with minimal teacher intervention while having fun and enjoying challenges."

A teacher quoted on the homepage, Imad, describes the effect: "Quizzes are corrected automatically, the curriculum is very well structured and fun." A school director, Hans, says students, teachers and parents "all gave us a much better feedback for having a very well organized and trackable system." A student, Becky, says the site lets her "login anytime to review lessons of the past, take quizzes and compete with fellow students."

Certificates and accreditation

Students "receive a certificate at the end of each course", and the course pages each say "Certificate of completion available." The Teachers page describes certifications that "validate their skills." These are course completion certificates issued by Coding First.

On accreditation, the About page calls Coding First "the leading STEAM accredited curriculum in Asia and the Gulf", and the homepage calls it "STEM Certified." It says the curriculum is developed by a team of engineers and doctorates led by Dr. Houry Keoshkerian, and that "Our team of instructors are certified by MIT University, Harvard University, Microsoft and STEM.org." The homepage carries a testimonial from Andrew, given as the founder of STEM.org.

Access and price

The course pages carry "Join For Free" and "Get This course" buttons, and the Teachers page invites schools to "Sign Up For Free Trial." The Basics Of Scratch page shows a "40% Discount" badge. The site publishes no prices for schools or families. The company takes enquiries by email, and the site advises using a laptop or PC with Google Chrome.

Who it suits

Coding First suits a school that wants a complete K-12 coding program (the Teachers page promises "interactive K-12 coding lessons") and is happy to adopt one supplier's sequence: block coding in primary, P5.js, web, 3D design and micro:bit in middle school, Python, data analytics, AI and Arduino in high school. Teachers who are not programmers get lesson plans, slides and videos for every topic, and automatic quiz grading takes marking off their hands. Schools that need hardware courses will find mBot, Dash and Dot, Makey-Makey, micro:bit and Arduino on the list.

It suits a single parent buying one course less obviously, since the site is written for schools first, and anyone who needs a price before a conversation will have to contact the company. A parent quoted on the homepage, Zao, writes that a 13 year old daughter has been learning at Coding First "for four years", which shows the long multi-level path the catalog is built for.