Happy 2016 - To Another Year of Coding

Our team was astounded by the number of students who played CodeCombat during #HourOfCode last month, and we’re thankful that so many educators made CodeCombat part of their curriculum. From the United States to China, the U.K. to Australia, and even as far as Brazil and Taiwan, we saw students logging on and writing their very first lines of code–no drag-and-drop training wheels here!

#HourOfCode by the numbers

Tons of teachers shared their students’ enthusiasm on Twitter - here are some of our favorites below:

Students at Centre High in Edmonton learned how to navigate pesky mazes in Python.

In Hawaii, elementary students helped heroes battle munchkins and ogres.

Students in Spain guide their hero past firetraps while avoiding enemies!

Fifth graders cheered each other on as their heroes rescued allies.

And here is sampling of the teacher feedback we received throughout the week:

"My students liked it so much several said, "Can we do this every day?" and one even asked, "Can we do this at home too?"" - Linda M.

“My class has been struggling with the basics of Python all year. They have started to really not like the class and the work. Today though they were having fun and getting into it. I think they forgot that they were actually learning something.” - Tim M.

What’s next for CodeCombat in 2016?

- Courses 5, 6, and beyond, plus we’re building more teacher resources to support classroom learning.

- A hint system and a multiplayer debugging community to get players unstuck faster.

- New game modes…

- And Java as a language option, at long last!

Follow our Twitter account @CodeCombat for these announcements and more!

Did you know CodeCombat can now provide everything you need to run a semester- or year-long computer science course? Check out how CodeCombat Courses works in schools and start teaching coding in your classroom today!