Apple announced updates to its coding programs and resources for educators and students on Thursday. The Develop in Swift and Everyone Can Code curricula have been given an overhaul. Furthermore, it launched a new professional learning course for Develop in Swift for educators.
New Apple Swift Education Resources Available Now
The Develop in Swift curriculum is aimed at high school and higher education students and has been redesigned based on feedback from educators. It includes a series of four books:
- Develop in Swift Explorations
- Develop in Swift AP CS Principles
- Develop in Swift Fundamentals
- Develop in Swift Data Collections
The first three of these books are available today for free in Apple Books. The fourth will become available in the fall.
Apple also announced a new online professional learning course for educators that will be free. Apple experts who teach the course will help instructors teach Swift and Xcode. Those who are interested can sign up today to participate in the course and it will be available July 13 via the Canvas Learning Management System.
Furthermore, a new resource called “A Quick Start to Code” is now available as part of efforts to support parents with kids who are home educating. It provides 10 coding challenges for those aged 10 and up, on iPad or Mac.
Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Markets, Apps, and Services, commented:
Apple has worked alongside educators for 40 years, and we’re especially proud to see how Develop in Swift and Everyone Can Code have been instrumental in helping teachers and students make an impact in their communities. We’ve seen community college students build food security apps for their campus and watched middle school educators host virtual coding clubs over summer break. As part of our commitment to help expand access to computer science education, we are thrilled to be adding a new professional learning course to help more educators, regardless of their experience, have the opportunity to learn coding and teach the next generation of developers and designers.
You were a bit cynical on the podcast. about Apple’s motives. Swift is also available for Linux and Windows.