Mission Encodeable: a free coding tutorials platform, written by students for students!

Harry and Anna Wake, computer science students

Mission Encodeable is a student-built platform for other students to learn coding. It has been used by many thousands of students from 151 countries across the globe! 

In this blog we answer questions put to us by Ceredig Cattanach-Chell, OCR Computer Science Subject Advisor.

What is Mission Encodeable?

We aim for Mission Encodeable to be the coolest way to code, and our mission is to inspire the next generation of computer scientists. 

We wanted to share our passion for programming with others. We noticed a gap in the coding tutorials space for a website that included projects which were engaging for GCSE students, or those who were learning to program. 

We think we’re well on the way to doing this. Students rate their learning experience as an average of 8.7/10! So we know we’re getting a lot right. Teachers have also praised how the platform allows their students to work independently, as well as the scaffolding and extra support available to those who need it.

What makes Mission Encodeable different?

Firstly, we thought about our learning experience. We thought about the best parts, and what we would have valued in addition. We turned this into the concept for Mission Encodeable. We hope that this means students find our platform much more accessible. 

Our online Python tutorials start with the very basics. They increase in challenge and go all the way up to some of the trickier concepts in GCSE Computer Science. We have really focused on making our platform as beginner friendly and supportive as possible. 

The Mission Encodeable website is accessible to all students regardless of their background. We have made sure that it is free to access and will keep it this way. We believe free access to programming tutorials is key to allow all young people to experience and learn important skills.

What teaching research have you used to help build your platform?

We’ve worked with publishers Craig ‘n’ Dave. This has allowed us to use the most effective pedagogical strategies when teaching students to code. 

We’ve implemented a “functions first” approach into our course. This was written about by Richard Pawson in Hello World Issue 7, and exists in numerous academic journals. 

Additionally, we’ve implemented many of the Rosenshine principles of instruction. 

We’ve scaffolded our course into a series of “levels”. This allows new material to be presented in small steps. At the end of each level there is a project that students create with some brief guidance. This allows students to consolidate their knowledge before moving on with harder tasks. 

Teachers can review the code that students write for these projects to check their understanding. 

We model best practice by providing line-by-line walkthroughs of many projects. This allows students to increase their familiarity with the syntax and logic of Python, whilst building a cool project at the same time. 

Our platform promotes independent practice too. Students progress at their own pace. This allows students to work on different programs to their classmates. Teachers have more time to help individual students, and more able students can progress more quickly.

What features are you most proud of?

1. The platform is really easy to access 
2. There is no need to register or log in! 
3. Students can use any Integrated Development Environment (IDE) they want to 
4. We have a range of free resources for teachers
   
5. We have the ability for teachers to track student progress

What about the future for Mission Encodeable?

We’re keen to keep on listening to teachers and students to find out what they’d like to see added. 

We’re currently working on creating video content to accommodate different learning styles. 

In the future we'll develop content on more advanced concepts like Object Oriented Programming (OOP). We are also thinking about creating specific modules for game development, machine learning, and data science. 

We recently released a set of Summer Coding Challenges. All of these are freely available. We think they’re a great way to check student’s progress and provide some challenge as they learn to code! Teachers can also set them as half-term challenges or homework.

Stay connected

Find out more about our computer science qualifications. 

If you have any questions, you can email us here at OCR at ComputerScience@ocr.org.uk, call us on 01223 553998 or message us on @OCR_ICT. You can also sign up to subject updates and receive information about resources and support.

If you are considering teaching any of our qualifications, use the expression of interest form to let us know, so that we can help you with more information.

About the authors

Anna and Harry Wake are cousins and current A Level Computer Science students. They’re both really passionate about computer science – in particular the programming aspects of the subject, and how it enables freedom for creativity. 

You can contact them through their website if you want to learn more about the platform!