Apple has announced a major new expansion to its Everyone Can Code initiative, designed to teach students how to use its Swift coding language to create iOS apps.
The program began by offering a free ebook, followed by a complete course curriculum for colleges, later rolled out worldwide. This latest initiative will see that curriculum offered to half a million students in Chicago …
Chicago Public Schools will also offer new Swift Coding Clubs, bringing coding education to after-school programs.
The initiative in Chicago was designed in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago, local businesses and non-profit organizations. Together, Apple and local organizations are helping expand opportunities for students to build the skills they need to pursue careers in the app economy by becoming proficient in Swift, Apple’s easy-to-learn programming language that empowers anyone to create world-class apps.
Businesses are supporting the program, allowing employees to help support students in their studies, and providing a small number of internships to students who have completed the course. These include Apple itself, 1871, GE Transportation, IBM, Jellyvision, Lextech, McDonald’s, One Summer Chicago, Rush University Medical Center, Ulta Beauty and United Airlines.
For younger children, Apple has a annual Hour of Code program designed to provide an introduction to core coding concepts.
Apple said that the app economy has created more than 64,000 jobs in Illinois, and more than 1.5 million jobs across the US.
