Recently, Washington Post columnist Valerie Strauss wrote that “coding is something like ‘cursive 2.0’ — a practice that will soon become compulsory in schools across the nation.”

“There are currently 25 states that allow high school students to count computer science classes as math or science credits,” she writes, “and the motivation for coding classes only increases when considering the openings for plush jobs that require the skills, which many workers lack.

“So,” Strauss asks, “what can schools do to catch up? A number of apps and Web-based platforms have popped up to help meet the challenge.

“A free tool, Codecademy, allows users to make their own interactive websites.

“But it’s more than that. Recognizing that it’s difficult to expect schools to teach code when their own staff is not familiar with the skills. Codecademy gets this.”

Signing up at the website grants access to a teacher training course, free classroom coding resources, and a pupil tracker to help monitor student performance.

Read more at “5 resources to get students coding” on Education Dive.