iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

A couple of years ago, as an 8-year-old trying to learn to code, a student named Theo was frustrated. Theo happens to be blind, and the standard tools designed to teach children to code rely heavily on visuals. But over the last year, he’s been a beta tester for something new: a set of physical blocks designed specifically to teach coding to kids with visual impairments. He’s moved on, and now codes in Python.


Called Code Jumper, the kit uses differently shaped blocks or “pods” that can be attached in patterns; each pod is a line of code. (Each is also brightly colored, for students who are visually impaired but not fully blind.) When the pods are attached together, and buttons on the pods are adjusted, the series creates an audible output, like a song or joke.

Students who are blind rarely major in math or science, and Emily Schlenker understands why, from personal experience.

A pre-med major at Wichita State University, Schlenker was born without sight. But that hasn’t slowed down her fascination with organic chemistry. What has repeatedly snagged her ability to study it, however, has been when homework assignments include charts and graphs that her screen-reading software can’t process.

“If I went around to every single wheelchair ramp on campus and broke part of it, there would be an absolute riot,” she says. “The equivalent for me is going to a class and not being able to study the textbook. No sighted person would ever do organic chemistry with no homework—they wouldn’t stand for it—but I was supposed to do that, apparently.”