Edinburgh’s Empowered Learning iPads have a number of coding apps available to learners and teachers.
All of the following apps can be downloaded from the Self Service app on Empowered Learning iPads.
Swift Playgrounds
Swift Playgrounds is Apple’s app that teaches both the concepts of coding and also the Swift programming language that can be used to develop apps.
Getting Started
A good resource for getting started with Swift Playgrounds is the Everyone Can Code set of resources and ebooks from Apple.
Minecraft Education Edition
Minecraft includes a coding tool that allows learners to control aspects of Minecraft worlds using programming. Learners can create programs to make it rain chickens, build structures or change the way their world behaves.
Getting Started
The Computing Science subject kit includes lessons that will teach learners the basics of coding within Minecraft.
If you’re interested in using Minecraft Education Edition to support learning across the curriculum then have a look at our Minecraft page to learn more about how it is being used in Edinburgh.
Scratch Jr
Scratch Jr is aimed at young learner aged 5-7. It allows them to develop simple programs that help them learn the basics of coding whilst also supporting numeracy and literacy.
Getting Started
The Scratch Jr website includes a number of lesson ideas that teachers can use. They also have printable materials that support activities and allow learners to add a physical element to their problem solving.
Other coding apps
Empowered Learning iPads also have access to the following apps and websites.
- Bee-Bot
- codeSpark Academy
- Kodable
- Lightbot: Code Hour
- Tynker
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