For kids who are just getting started with code, syntax can be a major stumbling block. And the fact that much of the code basically looks like random jumbles of letters doesn’t make it easier to remember what goes where.

Codemoji, an educational technology startup based in 1871, wants to make it easier for kids to pick up programming fundamentals by using drag-and-drop emoji as an on-ramp.

“In the beginning, we switch things like HTML tags with emoji to make it more relatable and fun, but then we slowly transition students over to things like typing out the real code and teaching them about opening and closing tags,” said co-founder Livio Bolzon.

In the first lesson, for instance, students learn that a webpage needs a traffic light at the beginning and end of the document to represent the html tag. The next lesson brings in a panda head to represent head tags. Turtles go inside the head tags to represent title tags.

Each step along the way, users get to see how the emoji code they created translates into actual HTML.

A Chicago native, Bolzon came up with the idea for Codemoji while taking basic computer science classes as a junior at Lindenwood University in Missouri. In taking those classes, he started thinking about the impact learning computer science at a younger age could have had.

“I really wanted to find a way to bring more complex computer science into the classroom, and make it really easy so schools wouldn’t need a one-to-one ratio between students and teachers,” said Bolzon.

In order to make learning as intuitive as possible, the team put a lot of thought into the emoji they chose to represent the different tags. Some are obvious, like cameras for pictures and traffic lights for beginnings and ends. Others are more abstract, like the ice cream cone used to represent the h1 tag: by clicking the ice cream cone, students can customize the header, sprinkling in details like different colors, borders and background colors.

Bolzon started putting a team and a plan together around ten months ago, and the Codemoji platform has been under development for about six months. One of four members of the company’s core team, he has currently put his studies on hold to focus on the company full time. Bolzon said some of the company’s developers are working part-time because they’re still full-time students at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Carnegie Mellon University.

Codemoji’s web-based platform is currently open for anyone who wants to use it to learn on their own, but it also has management tools for teachers or parents who want to be able to follow their students’ progress. For now, the program is free for most users, but Bolzon said the plan is to transition to a licensing model over time.

Although it’s still early in the game, the startup already has partnerships with some schools in the Chicago Public Schools system, including Wells Preparatory Elementary Academy, and with the nonprofit Code.org to provide content for its annual Hour of Code initiative. Codemoji is also working with Brilliant Labs on a Canadian pilot program involving between 15 and 20 schools.

In an unofficial capacity, the Codemoji platform is already in use by teachers in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, said Bolzon. In the next month or two, he expects to officially bring 30 U.S. schools onto the platform.

The team is also working on some hardware puzzles that will match up with its online offerings and help kids learn about basic coding concepts and circuitry.

Aside from finding ways to make intuitive content that meets Common Core standards, Bolzon said one of the biggest challenges of working in the edtech space so far has been the extent to which schools struggle with outdated equipment and a lack of resources.

“Schools are really trying to work with companies to bring in software that will help students learn, but they don’t have enough people to support the initiatives,” he said. “Policymakers say they want to bring computer science into the schools, but then they don’t give them hardware or the staff to keep their software up to date. The head of the IT department might also be teaching classes.”

Images via Codemoji.

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