Venture Description:
CodeHS is a web-based application that simplifies teaching programming to middle school and high school students. CodeHS’s value proposition is “to empower all students to meaningfully impact the future”. They are doing this by “providing great curriculum, tools, and resources to teachers, students, and schools to implement high quality computer science programs”. Similar to other online platforms that teach learners how to code, CodeHS has lessons for a plethora of programming languages such as HTML, JavaScript, Python, etc. What CodeHS does differently than their competitors is that there is a built in class management system where teachers can assign their students into a group and see their progress on the lessons and assess their assignments/ projects through this built-in feature.
Founders Bio:
Jeremy Keeshin is the co-founder and CEO of CodeHS. Keeshin studied computer science at Stanford and worked as a teaching assistant. During his time there, Keeshin was the head teaching assistant in charge of fifty other TAs and often gave lectures for the Intro to Computer Science class. Keeshin’s motivation to start CodeHS was his desire to bring computer science education into classrooms all around the world. The piece that Keeshin discovered that was missing with a lot of online learning platforms is the teacher piece. He found that self-learners often gave up because there was no one to check on them and to encourage the learning. With CodeHS, it is built with the teacher in mind and how teachers can use the platform to interact and check in on their students.
CodeHS’s other co-founder is Zach Galant, another Stanford graduate who worked closely with Keeshin during their time as teaching assistants. Galant was the founder of Tera Byte Video Game Creation Camp where kids came to learn how to make their own video games. Both Galant and Keeshin have a strong passion for teaching and learners which enabled them to create a successful learning platform in CodeHS.
Personal Reflection:
I have personally used CodeHS in my teaching. When I first started teaching computer programming, CodeHS enabled me to use their engaging curriculum, class management application, and their built in development environment to help me with my first year of teaching coding. I admire the passion Galant and Keeshin had in bringing computer science education into every high school classroom. They saw the potential and a need for computer education in schools and filled that hole with their platform.
Hi Jerry,
What I like most about CodeHS is the simplification and empowerment allowing students to the program, exposing them to the search for solutions, and participation in educational technology. Preparing students for an increasingly multitasking reality. It crossed my mind how many working hours to develop this web-based app. Great choice, congratulations.
Thank you Jerry for introducing CodeHS to me! This seems like a great tool and it is great that it comes with your recommendation as someone who has used it. It is great that Jeremy Keeshin created a program with both the student and teacher in mind, to ensure a positive experience from both educator and student!