I am delighted to announce Experience CS, a free, integrated computer science curriculum for elementary and middle school students (8–14 years old) that will be available in June 2025.
Experience CS enables educators to teach computer science through a standards-aligned curriculum that integrates computer science concepts and knowledge into core subjects like maths, science, languages, and the arts.
This cross-curricular and integrated approach is one of the most effective ways to provide younger students with an introduction to computer science and is increasingly important as the impact of digital technology reaches every corner of our lives. We also know that embedding CS in real-world contexts helps make it meaningful and relevant for students, which is essential if we are going to inspire kids from different backgrounds to want to learn more about computer science and technology.
Built by educators, for educators
The team behind Experience CS includes educators with significant experience of teaching CS in elementary and middle school settings and everything we do is being informed by the world’s leading research into effective pedagogy as well as extensive testing and research in classrooms. This won’t stop when we launch. We will continue to develop and improve the curriculum and resources in response to feedback from teachers and students.
One of the most important design principles for Experience CS is that it can be used by any educator. You don’t need a CS qualification or any previous experience in teaching CS classes to deliver engaging and creative learning experiences for your students.
We will provide lesson plans, classroom resources, and an online platform that is designed to be easy and safe to use. We will also provide educators with professional development to help build their confidence, knowledge, and skills. You don’t need to adapt or amend the resources to use them, but you will be able to if you want to. We trust teachers to know what is best for their classrooms.
A creative and safe learning experience
Crucially, Experience CS will be a creative learning experience. We’ve all seen those apps and platforms that purport to teach computer science by having young people direct their favourite pop culture character around a maze. While those types of games can be fun, we think that they fail to convey the creative potential of computer science and leave more students feeling “why bother” rather than being inspired to learn more.
That’s why Experience CS includes self-directed creative projects using the popular programming platform Scratch, with clear instructions and endless opportunities for young people to express themselves creatively.
We know that online safety is the most important consideration for schools, teachers, and parents, which is why we have built a version of Scratch that is safe for schools. That means it won’t have the community and sharing features that are so central to the full Scratch platform. It will come with simple and intuitive classroom management features that enable teachers to create accounts, set assignments, review progress, and provide feedback to students.
Free forever, for everyone
Our promise is that Experience CS will be available for teachers and students anywhere in the world to use for free, for as long as you need it.
Initially, we are developing the curriculum and resources for the US and Canadian education systems and we will be mapping the lessons to national and local standards in both countries. The materials will all be available in English, French, and Spanish. We will also be focusing our professional development and support for schools in the US and Canada, including working with a fantastic network of educational partners.
Building on the legacy of CS First
We are delighted that Experience CS is supported by Google and that we are able to build on the fantastic work that they have done over many years to support educators and students through CS First.
Google has today announced that CS First will no longer be available from June 30, 2025 and that they are recommending that their users should move over to Experience CS for the next school year. That is a huge vote of confidence from a team that really knows what they are talking about. I want to pay tribute to everyone at Google who has worked so hard over the years to support teachers and inspire students through CS First.
We are looking forward to working with all of the CS First community to make sure that you are supported through the transition and set up ready to go for the start of the new school year. You can find out more about the support we will be offering by registering here.
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