Delighting teachers.

Teachers are essential.

Confident teachers are unstoppable.

In any subject, the heart of learning is the connection between teacher and student. That’s why we put teachers at the center of computer science education.

Many computer science programs rely on self-paced online curricula or visiting professionals, making teachers into mere classroom monitors. Instead, we make teachers into computer science experts, giving them the training and tools they need to deliver coding instruction as precisely and confidently as any software engineer.

Empowering teachers takes more than just training.
Our strategy has four key parts:

01

Teacher Coding Bootcamps

Educators of any background can become Certified Computer Science Instructors through our rigorous virtual professional learning courses. They’ll graduate with a depth of knowledge in the subject matter, strong coding literacy, and confidence in their ability to teach computer science.

View Coding Bootcamps

02

Complete Curriculum

Leave the curriculum development work to us: our courses include all the material that teachers could need, including lesson plans, activities, and tools for assessing student mastery. Each course is crafted using best practices in instructional design, composed to guide students towards computer science mastery.

View Curriculum

03

Teaching Platform

The TechSmart Platform gives teachers an unprecedented level of scaffolding tools, designed to ensure that they feel confident and comfortable teaching computer science with accuracy and rigor. By integrating curriculum with a live coding environment, our platform empowers teachers to create a dynamic, interactive, and engaged classroom.

View Platform

04

Live Support

Teachers who need assistance can simply open the TechSmart Platform’s real-time chat widget, and our expert staff will respond in seconds. It’s like having a software engineer as your teaching assistant. And since supporting teachers means more than just troubleshooting, we offer Office Hours and build Professional Learning Communities.

Learn More

The results delight teachers.
Here's what they have been saying.

At first, learning to code felt like learning a new language. I had to program my brain to think in a new way. After completing Bootcamp, I felt like I had a good understanding of coding basics. I could definitely see the bigger picture after working through all the lessons. I think I had my "ah-ha" moment on day 3 or 4. I felt more confident and could use the techniques to tell stories.

Aetherial is a fun, interesting setting, and I knew students would be engaged by the heroes and their distinct personalities. My favorite character is Breeze, as you can tell by the photo, I dressed up like her for Halloween!

Dana Verhoff

Elementary school teacher

12th year as an educator
Master's degree in Instructional Design and Technology Integration
Snoqualmie Valley School District, Washington State

  • “Students love TechSmart! It's easy to motivate them to follow along with the lesson because they are anticipating the "Code Your Own" time.”
  • “Students really appreciate being able to "custom-fit" the coding exercises. I think this feature really keeps kids challenged or supported, and I love that we empower them to choose the "fit" that works best for them!”
  • “I love seeing how excited my students are to learn new animation techniques and then apply what they learn through their own storytelling! Coding in this format is building confidence and resilience and creativity!”
  • “I really appreciated that I was able to make connections to standards in both ELA and Math.”
  • “Teach Assist is full of helpful reminders. As I am delivering my lesson, the beacons keep me on task and allow me to circle back to concepts from previous lessons.”
  • “I use the Objectives and Descriptions to create visual learning targets and vocabulary cards that I display in my computer lab.”
  • “I share a few Code Your Own programs from the previous lesson to give kids the chance to decompose those programs and get inspired by each other!”
  • “The lesson videos allow students to see the "end goal" of the animation and then decompose the program to recreate it. I love this type of reverse engineering because it causes kids to shift perspective and dig deep!”
  • “I can essentially use the Day View as a skills and understanding checklist as the class make its way through the various lessons.”
Starting with the Teacher Coding Bootcamp, TechSmart really proves they care about ensuring teachers are prepared and well equipped to launch a full computer science curriculum. TheTechSmart Platform allowed for a seamless transition for our blended learning environment. TechSmart is the most robust, comprehensive curriculum that I’ve seen. It allows teachers to personalize and differentiate with ease. Student engagement is at an all-time high in all of my coding courses. I have zero engagement issues because the pace of the course keeps students learning, and because I have the ability to tailor the difficulty level to individual students using the instant differentiation tools. The growth and success of our coding students is evidence that TechSmart works and is preparing students for a computer science pathway.

Natalie Cummings

High School Teacher

4th year as an educator
District 49
Colorado

  • “Completing the Teacher Coding Bootcamp was great! All my worries of not knowing enough went out the window. The Bootcamp made me feel accomplished and prepared to bring TechSmart back to my classroom.”
  • “Having the TechSmart Platform Teach Assist is like having a software engineer in class with me. Being able to check syntax and work seamlessly through the programs and demos is great. Having the questions prepared allows for quick checks of understanding in class.”
  • “TechSmart Platform Code Assist is my first go-to when any student has a syntax error. ‘Have you checked Code Assist?’ It’s the new Google of Computer Science class!”
  • “Using the coding exercise difficulty levels to differentiate the daily work is a great tool so that students don't feel like it’s ever getting too easy or too hard. Having an extra layer of support with embedded videos and notes gives students support away from the classroom as well.”
  • “I love the TechSmart Platform Daily Lesson Plan. As a blended school working on multiple LMS (learning management systems) can be a challenge, but with the straightforward design and ease of access in TechSmart, students are not confused about what to work on and when.”
  • “Having the prepared Teaching Slides and Notes in the TechSmart Platform really allows for a seamless lesson and gives me the prep time to prepare for the content.”
  • “The Teacher’s Guide Objectives and Learning targets are great tools to plan for learning outcomes to share with students and parents.”
  • “The curriculum Code Your Owns are the highlight of every unit. Students are required to present their Code Your Owns to the class and this really brings out the competition and spirit to get better everyday. This also increases the use of vocabulary and understand their own program structures.”
The TechSmart Platform has been awesome. It's easy to use and get prepped for the lessons I teach each week, and it does a great job of providing instruction and guidance to the teachers and the students. Most potential questions have already been answered in the Lesson Plan Teachers Guides. Skylark is an intuitive and easy to use block coding language. As someone who has a little experience with coding, I was excited to use it with my students to teach them the foundational skills they would need to advance in computer science. Students are engaged and excited to get going with it each day I am in their classrooms. They have ventured far beyond the lessons on their own time, creating many fun, engaging programs.

Brian Kull

Elementary School Teacher

15th year as an educator
Laguna Beach School District
California

  • “The Teaching Slides in the Platform are great... They do a great job of explaining the concept, what it does, and why we use it.”
  • “The Teaching Slide notes provide a script for my teacher narrative and do a great job helping teachers with little or no coding experience successfully implement the lessons.”
  • “Students love completing coding projects, then experimenting with the other blocks to see what they can get the sprites to do. They have grand plans and ideas, and are excited to keep moving forward to be able to make their characters do what they want them to be able to do.”
  • “The Lesson Plan Week View in the TechSmart Platform is easy to use and get prepped for the lessons I teach each week.”
  • “Most students are highly engaged. They younger kids love the characters and their interactions with each other.”
  • “I have found that some kids try to code the projects without hints, even if available, to challenge themselves. It has been awesome to see them do this!”
TechSmart has provided my students with an exciting curriculum that challenges students of different ability levels. My students are really excited about coding and have been enjoying the lessons. As a teacher, I feel very supported by TechSmart. I appreciate all the work that has been put into making this program easy for teacher use and engaging for students. My students are very engaged and interested in this curriculum. Their favorite programs have been the ones where they can play games or do fill in the blank stories. They are always looking for ways to make their programs unique and they enjoy sharing their finished programs with their peers.

Amanda Gregory

Middle School Math Teacher

3rd year as an educator
Coronado Unified School District
California

  • “The multiple coding exercise difficulty levels have allowed me to keep all students engaged in the same lessons at the same time. All my students are appropriately challenged.”
  • “The Teaching Slides and Slide Notes in the TechSmart Platform are very impressive! I really appreciate the organization and thought that has gone into these tools. I am able to use the slide notes to guide my instruction to students with confidence.”
  • “I was immediately impressed with the curriculum and excited to have the opportunity to teach this to my students.”
  • “The Teach Assist Callouts in the TechSmart Platform are very helpful when I am doing full class instruction. I love how the beacons provide notes and questions to guide your full class discussions.”
  • “The TechSmart Code Assist Platform feature is a very effective and useful tool for my students. I frequently have students look in Code Assist to find the proper syntax.”
  • “The Lesson Plan Day View tools in the TechSmart Platform are very helpful for me! I use them everyday to guide my preparation of the lessons and to help provide objectives to my students.”
  • “The Lesson Plan Day View in the Platform is helpful for me to see what needs to be completed that day. It helps me guide students from one assignment to another easily.”
  • “My students are very excited when they get the opportunities to do the Code Your Own exercises. Students put a great deal of work to these assignments and enjoying sharing their work with others.”
  • “I am impressed with the Lesson Plan Week view in the Platform. It helps me see what is happening over the week and move assignments around as needed.”
The Teacher Coding Bootcamp was great! The instructors are patient and knowledgeable. Upon completing it, I felt very confident and able to teach the course. The Lesson Plan Day View tools are what make teaching this curriculum so much fun, and Live Support is the wind beneath my success. Students LOVE the student coding exercises and Code Your Own. They gain confidence early because the curriculum is designed to get them coding early and then break down concepts later. They really do learn to code and comprehend what the lessons intend to deliver in terms of knowledge.

Hillary Leonard

Middle School Business and Marketing Teacher

5th year as an educator
Bellevue School District
Washington State

  • “I love the Code Assist feature in the TechSmart Platform. It gives us a chance to connect to the curriculum together as a class and it can re explain a concept with a fresh view. Sometimes this is what the class needs in order to grasp a concept.”
  • “The Teach Assist feature in the TechSmart Platform is critical to my success. It informs me in real time so I can formulate what I verbalize to students in real time. It's a great way to challenge critical thinking.”
  • “I could not teach this class without the Slide notes in the TechSmart Platform. They (and the Teach Assist callouts) are the reason I am successful teaching this course.”
  • “Students LOVE the student coding exercises and Code Your Own. They get to be independent and grow their confidence more. They share with their neighbors and really enjoy playing with the programs they create.”
  • “The Lesson Plan Day View in the TechSmart Platform is what makes teaching this curriculum so much fun! I feel very prepared.”
  • “It is invaluable to have the Lesson Plan Week View. It allows me to make adjustments in advance so I am prepared.”
  • “Lesson videos and notes in the TechSmart Curriculum are critical to student comprehension. Struggling learners are able to repeat lessons as needed as well.”
I taught Video Game Programming with two different curriculums over five years, and the TechSmartKids curriculum taught students so much more than the other programs. I gave them a first semester exam, a partner project where I had them code the "Game of Pig," and I was amazed at how well they did with this. They demonstrated mastery of many of the concepts we had covered first semester and did it quite well. I couldn’t teach the class without supports like Teach Assist. I'm usually fine, but if I get stuck, then I click on the callout beacons and the answer shows up. I look at the answer and think to myself, "oh, yeah, that's right!" and then explain it to the class. One of my favorite features is the built in Differentiation tool. I love that I can put kids on different levels. I had two kids last year who were in our "Life Skills" program in my class who have a one-on-one paraeducator that comes with them. I was able to put the kids on Level 1 and they could help themselves be successful in the class. I love working with TechSmart and that I can get support quickly. They make it really easy to teach Python.

Kim Hansen

High School Math Teacher

32nd year as an educator
Vancouver School District
Washington

  • “The TechSmart support staff is amazing and super helpful. I really appreciated the one-on-one Google Hangouts to get my questions answered.”
  • “By the end of the Teacher Coding Bootcamp, I felt like I knew what to expect in the class in terms of what the kids will see, and I felt good about my ability to know how to do the code that the kids will do.”
  • “I think the student engagement is great. There are usually 3 programs a day so we are constantly moving and I think that keeps them going.”
  • “I do think kids like it best when I stop talking and let them work, that's when they get the most done. Especially when they can work on the Coding Exercise challenges or do Code Your Own projects. That's when they are the most engaged.”
  • “I couldn't teach the class without Teach Assist! I'm usually fine, but if I get stuck, I click on the beacons and the answer shows up. I look at the answer and think to myself, ‘Oh, yeah, that's right!’ and then explain it to the class.”
  • “The Lesson Plan clearly lays out what will be done in terms of the Warm Up, Technique or Coding Exercise. I can practice doing the problems without affecting the actual program that I will be using when I teach the class.”
  • “I like that everything is pre-planned and the activities have quite a variety.”

Take the first step.

Let’s talk about how we can help.