e-Learning Ecologies MOOC’s Updates

freeCodeCamp: Removal of Financial Barriers leads to greater ubiquity

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” ~Arthur Ashe

The above quote is one of many random quotes that are displayed on the freeCodeCamp user profile page and it is a good summation of their ethos.

Founded in 2014 by Quincy Larson, this non-profit education resource has grown to include over 4000 volunteers and have helped more than 40,000 coders get jobs.(1)

The Free Code Camp states their mission as “to help people learn to code for free. We accomplish this by creating thousands of videos, articles, and interactive coding lessons - all freely available to the public. We also have thousands of freeCodeCamp study groups around the world.”(2) (emphasis added)

Their interactive web platform consists of “an online community forum, chat rooms, online publications and local organizations” and their stated intention is to “make learning web development accessible to anyone.”(3)

The resource offers over 1,400 hours of interactive coding exercises and web development projects.

The design and usability of the site are functional first and attractive later. The curriculum is divided in self paced 300-hour courses and each can be accessed anywhere there is an internet connection. The software programming environments required to run, test and evaluate the coders efforts are provided through a free partnerships with Codepen,(4) effectively removing any additional financial barriers for potential users.

The combination of vast learning resources, community support, searchable knowledge base and the always-on status of the coding camp marks the freeCodeCamp as a bright example of a Ubiquitous learning ecology.

1. https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/about/

2. https://www.freecodecamp.org/

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeCodeCamp

4. https://codepen.io/