A bilingual MOOC that teaches youngsters how to program: Analysis and reflections on one year of experiences

Critical thinking and problem solving are fundamental skills to function successfully particularly in today's world. When programming, these skills are promoted, developed and deployed. In this context, Universidad ORT Uruguay and The University of Edinburgh co-created in 2015 a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) that teaches young teenagers how to program. The course was implemented simultaneously in 2 versions: in Spanish, called “¡A Programar!” and in English, called “Code Yourself!”, which are available on the Coursera platform. Since its launch in March 2015, more than 139,000 people from 197 countries have registered. Initially it was offered in a “fixed session”; while currently it is offered in an “auto-cohort” mode. In both cases, students' surveys indicate that the course has met or exceeded expectations (values above 93%). In this paper, we detail the characteristics of the MOOC, and we analyze and compare the modes and results.