Are you new to Code.org or do you want to learn more about how our teacher tools work? 

Check out our 4 new walkthrough videos (all here!) that cover:

1. An overview of the Code.org website
2. How to create a classroom section
3. Tips to track student progress and evaluate student work
4. The student experience at Code.org

 

Curriculum & Courses Updates for 2021-22

We recently released our latest 2021-2022 versions of our Computer Science Fundamentals, Computer Science Discoveries and Computer Science Principles curriculum! Learn more about what's new and different this year in each offering. 

You can read more about individual improvements and new features in tools like App Lab and Game Lab in our ongoing product update blog series, here! Some of our favorite recent updates include:

• New "Keep Working" feature: 
  • When teachers check a 'Keep Working' checkbox, the student's level bubble will gain a small, red notification dot and the level will revert to the 'In Progress' state instead of displaying as 'Completed.' You can also leave a helpful note to the student by typing in the text box below the Keep Working checkbox and then hit 'save and share' to send your feedback to the student. Learn more here! 
• Files in WebLab are now color-coded by their type and have new icons, to be able to more easily differentiate between CSS, HTML, and images.
• Sprite Lab now offers a pause button, more new backgrounds, and tons of new sprites!
• Students must now change code in order to ‘complete’ most Game Lab, App Lab, and Web Lab levels. In the past, students could just hit ‘finish’ on most of these levels without doing any work, and get those levels to show up as completed. Now, students must change code on a level to see it marked as ‘completed.’ This will hopefully prevent students from racing through levels without doing anything!
• More accessible links to documentation in all Labs environments, and added the ability to pop-out documentation in a separate window!
• Added option to link to an image hosted on the web, instead of needing to download a file to your computer first.  GIFs supported too!

New Look for Lesson Plans and Curriculum Overview Pages

This year, we moved our lesson plans from curriculum.code.org into Code Studio! Course overview pages like studio.code.org/s/csd1-2021 or studio.code.org/s/coursef-2021 now will have a new look with many new links to additional resources, for teachers and students alike. Learn more about the new Lesson Plan look here, or the new Curriculum Overview page here. 

If you have feedback or new feature requests for what would be particularly useful to you and your students right now, email us at support@code.org! 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are answers to the most frequently asked questions both for teachers starting out new with Code.org and for those returning to the learning platform at the start of the school year.

Managing classroom sections

How can I create a classroom section for my students?

Create a new classroom section for your students by signing into your account and clicking on the button that says “Create a section” on your dashboard. If you use Google Classroom or Clever rostering, we encourage you to choose the option to sync your section with these tools. Otherwise, choose the “personal login” option if your students can create their own accounts, or word or picture login accounts if you want to create accounts for your students. Learn more about creating sections here and having your students join your sections here.

How do I delete my old sections?

The easiest way to declutter your sections list is by choosing the “Archive section” option in the dropdown menu that appears when you click on the arrow on the rightmost column of your sections table.

By archiving your sections (instead of deleting them), you will be able to restore them in the future if needed while still retaining your students’ education records. Learn more about removing old sections here.

Can I move a student from one section to another?

Yes, you can move (or copy over) students by clicking into the section from your dashboard, going to the “Manage Students” tab and clicking on the “Move Students” button. From here, choose the students you want to move and the section you want to move them to. Note that this does not work for sections synced with a third party system like Google Classroom or Clever.

To move a student in sections synced with a third party system like Google Classroom or Clever, you'll need to move the student between sections in the third party system first, and then return to Code.org and "sync" both the old and new section to update them.

For more details on moving students, go here.

Can I add a co-teacher to my section?

There is currently no way to add a co-teacher to individual sections, but we offer a few workarounds that still allows other teachers to view your students' progress. If you want to share your full teacher dashboard's progress view with someone else (such as another teacher or school admin), you'll need to share your login credentials with them.

Alternatively, you can copy your students accounts into another teacher's section. The other person just needs to have a teacher account. For more details on co-sharing a section with others, see this article: https://support.code.org/hc/en-us/articles/228116368-Can-two-or-more-teachers-share-access-to-student-sections-. 

For more info on moving / copying students, see this article: https://support.code.org/hc/en-us/articles/206448888-How-can-I-move-students-into-a-different-section-or-under-a-new-teacher-.

Lastly, students can join any other teacher's section at any time, while preserving progress. Students who are signed in can join another teacher's section from code.org/join, which will allow both the original and new teacher to view their progress. 

If you use Google Classroom or Clever rostering, this can be achieved by syncing to the same Google Classroom or Clever section. Otherwise, a teacher can copy over their students to another teacher’s sections through the “Move Students” button.

 

Preparing for your computer science class

What are the technical requirements for using Code.org curriculum?

Please review our IT requirements with your IT administrator to ensure that your classroom is ready and set up to use our online curriculum.

How do I attend professional learning for Code.org curriculum?

Professional learning is available to teachers of all grade levels. Whether you’re new to computer science or an experienced tech teacher, our professional learning program is a great way to find support as you’re preparing to use Code.org’s curriculum.

Do you have any videos, posters, or other resources I can use?

• Check out this guide for recruiting students for your computer science class
• Invite a software engineer to speak to your students
• Explore examples of careers in tech
• Print out posters to inspire your students
• Show a video from our video library
• Do you use a OneNote Notebook with your class? Check out the OneNote Notebook for CS Discoveries

 

Additional resources

How can I connect with other teachers or get coding help for myself or my students?

Visit our community forum at forum.code.org to connect with other educators around the world, to get varied input on classroom implementation strategies, hear success stories, ask questions over your code or your students' code, and much more! More specifically, for debugging help in GameLab or CS Discoveries, go here. For debugging help in AppLab or CS Principles, go here.

How can I keep track of product updates that are happening? 

Check out these articles in our Product Update blog series that cover our latest updates and features.

What if I need additional help? 

We encourage you to check out our support articles to see if your question is already answered. If you run into any other problems or issues, please email us at support@code.org. We are always happy to help!