9th Grade – 12th Grade

Resources

Learning tools for high school students

Hardware

Finch Robot
The Finch is a new robot for computer science education. Its design is the result of a four year study at Carnegie Mellon’s CREATE lab. The Finch is designed to support an engaging introduction to the art of programming. It has support for over a dozen programming languages and environments, including several environments appropriate for students as young as eight years old. The Finch was designed to allow students to write richly interactive programs.

LEGO Mindstorms
Create small, customizable and programmable robots using LEGO pieces.

Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. It’s a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video. We want to see it being used by kids all over the world to learn programming.

TI Launchpad
LaunchPads are microcontroller development kits from Texas Instruments. They come in a variety of flavors to address your various project needs. All LaunchPad kits include everything you need to begin developing applications in minutes.

Software

AnimatorDV Simple
Windows based software, frame grabber, for creating stop motion and time lapse animation. Allows to create stereoscopic 3D movies taking advantage of motion control systems. Can be also used on film set as a previsualization tool.

App Inventor
Web-based program development tool that even beginners with no prior programming experience can use to create mobile applications.

Audacity 
Audacity is a free, easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. The interface is translated into many languages. You can use Audacity to record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, edit WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP2, MP3 or Ogg Vorbis sound files, cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together, change the speed or pitch of a recording.

Bebras Challenge
Over two million students from 30 countries have already participated in the Bebras Challenge over the past five years. Now it is available in the USA as well! Every student that participates in this free online quiz gets a score that shows their aptitude for computational thinking and teachers receive detailed statistical analyses of their students’ score. That way, it enables encouragement of the discovered interest or aptitude.

Blockly
Blockly is a web-based, graphical programming editor. Users can drag blocks together to build an application. No typing required.

Circuit Lab
Sketch, simulate, and share your circuits, entirely in your browser — no install required.

Code.org
Learn the basic concepts of Computer Science with drag and drop programming. This is a game-like, self-directed tutorial starring video lectures by Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies. Learn repeat-loops, conditionals, and basic algorithms. Available in 34 languages.

Code Avengers
Code Avengers has free interactive online courses that teach the basics of web design and computer programming, in a way that makes learning fun and effective.

CodeHS
The goal of CodeHS is to spread the knowledge of computer science by offering well crafted instructional materials supported continuously by the quality, personal attention of our enthusiastic tutors.

Codecademy
Free online programming tutorials.

CodeCombat
Play as a Wizard using code (spells) to control your heroes, navigate mazes, defeat ogres, trick enemies, and rescue allies! Learn JavaScript in this HTML 5 web game for complete beginners.

CodePen
CodePen is an HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code editor in your browser with instant previews of the code you see and write.

Code Wizards HQ
We prepare kids for success in the digital world by teaching them how to code. Our unique approach combines the benefits of teacher-led instruction and the ease and convenience of online classrooms. Our developmental curriculum is based on hands-on learning where each student will have their own personal website that they build out and share as they learn coding.

Dash General Assembly
Dash teaches HTML, CSS, and Javascript through fun projects you can do in your browser.

Earsketch
The software toolset enables students to create music by manipulating loops, composing beats, and applying effects with Python code. The social media website invites students to upload their music and source code, view other students’ work, and create derivative musical remixes from other students’ code. EarSketch is built on top of Reaper, an intuitive digital audio workstation (DAW) program comparable to those used in professional recording studios.

FramebyFrame
FramebyFrame is a basic application to create stopmotion with your webcam.

GameMaker
The GameMaker software allows users to easily develop computer games without the requirement of prior computer programming experience, while allowing advanced users to create complex applications much faster than possible with most other programming languages with its built-in scripting language. The session includes a history of gaming, a group activity, and a hands-on GameMaker exercise.

GIMP
Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is an image retouching and editing tool and is released under the GPLv3 license as free and open-source software. There are versions tailored for most operating systems including Linux, OS X, and Microsoft Windows.

Hopscotch
iPad programming app for kids.

IRM Project
IRM3 is a free development tool of a Android RPG game. The benefit of using this tool is that you can develop games without the knowledge of programing language.

Javascript for Kids
The JavaScript for Kids book is a lighthearted introduction that teaches programming essentials through patient, step-by-step examples paired with funny illustrations. You’ll begin with the basics, like working with strings, arrays, and loops, and then move on to more advanced topics, like building interactivity with jQuery and drawing graphics with Canvas.

Jeliot
Jeloit is free software that you can use to visualize execution of a Java program. It doesn’t have to be downloaded to run. You can run it using Java Web Start.

Khan Academy
Students can make use of the extensive video library, interactive challenges, and assessments from any computer with access to the web.

Mozilla Thimble
Thimble creates and hosts web pages for novice HTML authors, as part of the Mozilla webmaker initiative.

Pickle
Pickle is a cross-platform pixel editor for creating game animations, tiles and sprite sheets. Pickle is optimized for the Flixel framework, but it loads and saves images in JPG, PNG and GIF formats so it can be used for other game frameworks as well.

Pinta
Pinta is a free, open source drawing/editing program modeled after Paint.NET. Its goal is to provide users with a simple yet powerful way to draw and manipulate images on Linux, Mac, and Windows.

Piq
Piq is a free online app for creating pixel art. It’s fun, easy to use, and it’s simple to get started – even if you’ve never made pixel art before!

Processing
Processing is a programming language, development environment, and online community. Since 2001, Processing has promoted software literacy within the visual arts and visual literacy within technology. Initially created to serve as a software sketchbook and to teach computer programming fundamentals within a visual context, Processing evolved into a development tool for professionals. Today, there are tens of thousands of students, artists, designers, researchers, and hobbyists who use Processing for learning, prototyping, and production.

Reeborg’s World
Reeborg’s World is an online platform intended to help beginners to learn programming, using either Javascript or Python.

RoboMind Academy
Students learn the basics of programming by controlling their own virtual robot. The online course is fully self-contained with short presentations, movies, quizzes and automatic guidance/hints to help with the programming exercises.

SC Codes
SC Codes is an online platform offering coding courses and mentorship opportunities to any South Carolinian who wants access to technology education. Courses can be completed at your own pace, in your own home — regardless of your technological background. We have resources for students brand new to coding as well as courses for professional developers looking to add a new skill. We’ll also connect you with experienced programming mentors in your area who can offer guidance and support in-person or online. And it’s all free of charge.

Snap!
Snap! is a visual, drag-and-drop programming language. It is an extended reimplementation of Scratch (a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab) that allows you to Build Your Own Blocks. It also features first class lists, first class procedures, and continuations. These added capabilities make it suitable for a serious introduction to computer science for high school or college students.

StarLogo Nova
StarLogo Nova is a programming environment that lets students and teachers create 3D games and simulations for understanding complex systems.

StarLogo TNG
StarLogo TNG is a downloadable programming environment that lets students and teachers create 3D games and simulations for understanding complex systems.

Stencyl
Stencyl isn’t your average game creation software; it’s a gorgeous, intuitive toolset that accelerates your workflow and then gets out of the way. We take care of the essentials, so you can focus on what’s important – making your game yours.

TouchDevelop
The TouchDevelop web app lets you create apps for iPad, iPhone, Android, PC,Mac, Windows Phone. The touch-friendly editor makes coding fun, even on your phone or tablet!

Tynker
Tynker is a new computing platform designed specifically to teach children computational learning and programming skills in a fun and imaginative way.

Vidcode
Vidcode offers free coding tutorials and resources that teach computer science principles through a drag and drop environment that quickly moves into text-based programming with JavaScript. Vidcode enables students to create video filters, simulations, augmented reality, and other creative projects.

W3 Schools
Learn how to make a website with free tutorials in all web development technologies.

K-12 RESOURCES

9th Grade – 12th Grade

Questions? Contact Us!