The Tynker app is available for Android and iPad. Tynker teaches kids programming by letting them create their own games and animations. (via Tynker)
With technology present in most homes across America, toy companies have dedicated time to create kid friendly apps and tablets with an educational focus. Now, there's a startup that can teach children programming fundamentals. Founded by Krishna Vedait, Tynker focuses on teaching children of all ages programming by having them create their own games. Rather than trying to teach young ones the complicated language of programming, Tynker offers fun tasks for kids to complete, such as creating their own animated characters or making their own game levels. It offers various tutorials and tools to interact with in order to build the games through a convenient drag-and-drop interface.
The company is now expanding its platform by allowing kids to use connected smart devices, such as robots and drones. This will allow kids to control real world objects, like home lighting, by building apps that can control toys, command robots, and fly drones. Tynker will also work with popular connected devices like Sphero Robots and Phillips Hue/Lux lightning system. Additional support will also be released for the Tynker iPad and Android apps.
In order to work with these smart devices, Tynker is introducing new code blocks which allows kids to create apps that control certain objects through a visual interface. Pre-coded templates like “Flappy Drone,” based off the popular mobile game “Flappy Bird,” Robo Race, and Stunt Pilot will be included to make it easier for kids to start programming.
Vedati hopes Tynker will expand to support more drones and remote control toys and will be compatible with Apple HomeKit, Parrot Flower Power, along with providing simple interfaces to Lego, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi, in the future.
Tynker also offers an at home service, which allows brings the tutorials, lessons, videos, and missions to personal computers. In addition to this, the company has teamed up with Dave McFarland, the author of various O'Reilly programming books, to create Tynkr's “Introduction to Programming” materials. The software costs $50 per student.
Over the span of three years, 23 million kids have started coding with Tynker and it's now being used in more than 20,000 schools across the United States, Canada, U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. The company is growing at a steady rate with 500,000 new sign ups per month.
New code blocks and training puzzles are currently available in the Tynker apps on Google Play and iTunes.
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