COVID-19 put a roadblock in the hands-on experience of learning to code. To counteract this dilemma, our software subteam began using “Code with Me,” an interactive, collaborative tool specifically for coding, similar to using Google Document and Google Meet programs. With Code with Me, mentors and students were able to teach and code simultaneously, no different than if you were sitting side by side. This allows for real-time collaboration to increase efficiency and understanding. Senior Youtai explained that an 1816 alumni, who was in Wisconsin,
easily “hopped onto a Meet session through Code with Me to help us with a program”. Today, half-a-dozen coders roll their wheely chairs up to the whiteboard, everyone opens up their computer to the same code to discuss and troubleshoot the next bug. The team finds this much more productive than hovering around one computer attempting to modify the same code. As Nico, a junior, states, “it’s a pretty big deal”.
– By Venna W.