Altino: Coding for Non-Coders

Altino is a revolutionary coding platform which aims to bring education reform to all K-12 schools in Hawai’i. Altino comprises of a multitude of system languages – Android, Arduino, and C++ – that can be effectively utilized in lesson plans to make code-learning interactive, inspiring, and fun.

Altino is part of Oceanit’s SURF program: Social Utilization of Resources for the Future, which inspires education and imagination for educators and students across Hawai’i.

Altino autonomous cars are manufactured by Oceanit’s South Korean partners, SaeOn. SaeOn originally introduced these code-able cars to the school curriculum in the City of Daejon. Today, that city has become the number-one coding district in all of Korea.

Oceanit is a major advocate for bringing coding to schools around Hawai’i – and is doing so through training with Altino autonomous cars. Partnering with Kamehameha Schools at the start of 2017, our hope is that computer coding can be integrated with curriculum around Hawaii by training our teachers to code. Drawing inspiration from South Korea, where coding will soon be a required part of students’ curriculum, Oceanit is using SaeOn’s autonomous cars to train teachers so that every student in Hawai’i could then be exposed to computer programming.

  • 9 out of 10 parents think Computer Science (CS) is a good use of school resources, and 5 out of 8 parents believe CS should be required learning as a core class
  • Only 1 in 4 schools have any form of coding class
  • Fewer than 8% of administrators believe parent demand is high for CS
  • Lack of trained teachers is a top barrier to offering CS courses.

By the summer of 2017, the first Altino cohort was implemented for local teachers to learn programming, while also providing three professional development credits. Oceanit also focuses on building lesson plans around coding in teachers’ classrooms, no matter the subject being taught. For instance, geography teachers can have their students use programming to demonstrate the sailing routes forged during the age of sail. Through the end of 2017 eight total cohorts were held, with many more planned throughout 2018.

Oceanit believes these trainings will help substantiate our theory that, “kids are not afraid of coding, the fear is within the teachers.”  Our mission is: to empower Hawaii’s kids with SUPERPOWER skills and experiences that are HUMAN-, BUSINESS-, and TECHNICAL-based, so they can CREATE their own CAREERS and/or their own COMPANIES and build greater prosperity and happiness for all of Hawai’i. 

Altino has also been featured on multiple news reports, most notably Hawai’i Public Radio, The Geek BeatGeeks and Gadgets, and Hawaii News Now. Most recently, the Altino Coding team – consisting of members from Oceanit and Kamehameha Schools – was honored at the 2018 Hawaii Venture Capital Association (HVCA) Deal & Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. The Altino Coding team won Social Impact Entrepreneurs of the Year at the 30th annual awards for their work to spread computer science and coding around Hawai’i.

To learn more about Oceanit’s SURF program, please visit oceanitfoundation.org:

To learn to code using our new Altino Virtual Car, please visit altinocoding.com

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Thank you to all our Altino sponsors