Community reviews for Tynker

Overall, this product is a wonderful way to introduce programming and logic skills. It can challenge students of every age and ability level. I do recommend that when first using Tynker you have students work in small groups and/or pairs. Encourage creativity, peer support, and independent thought!

I was most impressed with how quickly they were able to pick up on the concept AND that when they finished each class, students didn't feel like they were learning. It was a great way to introduce coding concepts without having to use a foreign language. Kids were engaged with going the furthest in the challenge and collecting stars. They worked independently, but also reached out to their classmates to help when they struggled to string the correct code together (especially with the [repeat] command). It was sufficiently challenging to keep them engaged (grades 3-7) and easy enough to allow them to be successful. The only negative I see is that I was unable to determine individual student gains or mastery because we share iPads. The app will collect "star" information (similar to other gaming apps such as Angry Birds or Candy Crush), but once a student accomplishes the challenge in three stars, there is no going back. Ideally, each student would have their own device in order to use this app as an assessment tool. I will, however, be able to take screenshots of their progress and incorporate them into further assessments.

The web version is more robust than the app version, but for the iPad classroom, the app version is convenient. It would be helpful if the program required more detail to assignments before giving students completion credit and allowing them to move on to the next lesson.

Tynker offers some really engaging coding games, but they would be much better if the user experience were improved. The instructions for each module are partially hidden behind the bubbles that show your progress. The coding buttons cover the puzzles, so students have to click on an arrow to hide and reveal the code, then remember the steps. This is really hard for kids to do! I don't understand why they didn't make two panes with the puzzle on one side and the workspace with blocks and buttons in the other. The hints and suggestions offered are unhelpful and do nothing to help the students problem solve. Some of the games require reading through each step and may be challenging for ELL students. Despite these problems, I liked using Tynker and will use it again next year, but only with sufficient practice beforehand with more intuitive coding programs from other sources. I do appreciate that I am not required to sign-up for anything on Tynker or create classes with log-ins for all my students. This is an option, but it is not necessary.