Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Codecademy Gamifies Coding

For anyone that has tried to learn coding and failed horribly, there is finally a solution. Its name is Codecademy. Via an interactive interface, users can simply start participating in free simple online lessons on Codecademy -- without any need to sign up or log in.

The startup launched just last week, having been in creation for a week and a half. It is the work of Ryan Bubinski and Zach Sims, a Columbia alumnus and Columbia junior year student respectively. Sims explains: "I thought about the best learning experience I've had, and realized it comes down to motivation and reward systems. The problem with learning things from books and videos is that you're just reading or watching them by yourself, and there's no reward when you've finished."
The interactive interface gives the user points for completing exercises and keeps them motivated." Codecademy's reward system comes in the form of badges, which successful pupils can triumphantly share across the web through Twitter and Facebook. The social aspect is important. Codecademy also has networking options to allow users to code with their friends, monitor each others' progress and keep those essential motivation levels high.






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