Although our YCIS Beijing students like many of their counterparts are enjoying the summer break, we continue to encourage learning to be a constant part of their lives. With the help of Satyendra Arora, YCIS Beijing’s Secondary Technology Integrator we compiled a list of resources they can access to improve or learn new ICT related skills.

According to Mr Arora, “this is the correct time to learn new skills and upgrade yourself. Nowadays, not only teaching & learning, everything is happening online.”.  This is evident in our daily activities which include ordering food, shopping, entertainment and keeping in contact with people amongst other things.

With the advent of technology came the introduction of multiple ways of learning such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) by institutions including the renowned Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and others where students can earn certificates after completing their course. Courses can range from coding to design, beginner to advanced which means every student’s need is met.

Our Secondary school students who are already taking Mr Arora’s IBDP Information Technology in a Global Society (ITGS) and Computer Science classes have an opportunity to explore a myriad of courses which may boost their competencies and offer them an added advantage in their respective subjects. Below are suggested websites according to each level:

For IB DP Computer Science students the following websites are highly recommended:

• https://www.edx.org/learn/javaJava courses on this platform range from Programming in Java, Software Development and Computer Science Essentials offered by some of the world’s leading universities such as Havard and MIT.

• https://www.java.com/en/java_in_action/bluej.jspBlueJ is a free user-friendly environment for students which was designed by Kent and Deakin University to teach object orientation in Java.

• https://www.codecademy.com/An interactive platform for students who want to learn coding with languages ranging from Java Python, Go, Javascript and Ruby amongst many others.

• https://chortle.ccsu.edu/cs151/cs151java.html

This is a beginner Java programming course designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of programming and covers content that would be taught in a university Computer Science course.

• https://repl.it/This interactive platform allows for students to take part in collaborative coding activities for free. Resources are offered by over 3 million programmers.

For IB DP ITGS students the following websites are recommended:

• https://www.w3schools.com/A learning platform that offers tutorials, references, examples and exercises for students who are interested in learning about website development.

• https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/tutorials.htmlAdobe Dreamweaver offers customizable templates for students to experiment with. web designing. It allows users to build sites for any browser and device.

• https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-htmlThis course is designed for students who are interested in learning the basics of HTML5, which is applicable for building and editing web pages.

• https://www.edx.org/course/html5-coding-essentials-and-best-practicesHTML5 is for students who would like to master best coding practices and learn simplified tags, play with video tags, draw and animate Web graphics and practice coding techniques.

• https://www.edx.org/learn/web-designWeb design courses which cover topics such as CSS Basics, Front-End Web Developer, CS50s Web Programming with Python and JavaScript and Computer Science for Web Programming.

These resources stand to be beneficial to Year 12 students who “would be acquiring new skills to develop their Internal Assessment (IA)/Project which they will share once completed” said Mr Arora

Although these resources are primarily for IBDP students, their IGCSE counterparts are encouraged to revise theory topics here.