With schools in various parts of the world still being held online because of the pandemic, Hong Kong startup EXL has developed a solution that enables coding to be taught online in a virtual classroom.

Called CodingRooms.com, the solution counts among its early customers more than a dozen universities, tuition centres and schools to teach programming in the 2020-21 academic year.

The browser-based platform features chat and direct messaging with Zoom-like video and audio-conferencing, as well as a presentation capability and multiple Google Doc-like interactive coding “notebooks”.

Instructors can teach a range of programming languages such as Python, C++, Java and JavaScript.

Real-time coding in virtual class

In a typical lesson, the teacher can stream and present while students watch him/her coding in real time. Students have their own notebooks that the teacher can see and interact with. The entire class session is video recorded for later reference from the cloud.

“As well as disrupting today’s economy, COVID-19 is changing the entire framework in which we will build the economy of the future. I’m talking about a future in which software and technologies such as artificial intelligence will dominate the global economy. In this regard, coding is becoming the new literacy, so I believe work being done today at EXL will become a foundational aspect of the educational experience of the future,” said Sasha Varlamov, Co-founder and CEO of EXL.

CodingRooms.com is available at US$49.99 per month for virtual classes involving up to 50 students, and US$199.99 per month for up to 500 students.