Across the world, we see an increasing demand for developers and programmers. Although IT professionals are among the most sought-after professionals, there is still a lack of adequate education and experience within this area.
To help Lithuania compete in the global market, and achieve its goals of becoming a welfare state, Visma Lithuania has developed a free programming teaching platform: Angis.
“There are excellent programming experts in Lithuania, but in order to remain leaders in this area, it is necessary to invest in the younger generation. Our children must receive the most modern education regardless of where they live if we want Lithuania to successfully compete in the global market and create a welfare state,” says Mindaugas Ubartas, Head of the Infobalt Information and Communication Technology Industry Association in Lithuania.
Free educational video platform for teenagers
Simply put, Angis is a free educational video platform for teenagers to self-study programming and engage in IT careers.
In Angis, there are 14 episodes and 14 tasks in Season One. After completing one “level” you can unlock another one. After completing Season One, students are then able to write simple games and interactive web apps in Python on their own.
They have practical knowledge of variables, procedures, loops, conditions, mouse interaction and keyboard inputs, and they know how to display an image or play sounds. The apps they have coded can then be shared online with their friends.
To get started, you only need an internet connection, browser, and a keyboard. Dynamic and high-quality content, the story art that connects all 14 episodes, the share feature and the scoring system keep every user engaged.
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Solving the challenge of the shortage of IT professionals
IT experts from Visma Lietuva spent three years developing modern teaching aids to teach programming remotely in Lithuania. The platform features professional programmers to teach one of the most popular programming languages in the world: Python.
There are fourteen levels in the platform, each with video training created by IT professionals working at Visma Lietuva and tasks to be solved. In addition to learning the programming language Python, users also learn how the virtual world works.
According to Mindaugas Ubartas, the shortage of well-paid IT professionals in Lithuania is a challenging issue. Hopefully, by educating the younger generation, Lithuania will see an increase in IT professionals in the coming years.
Mantas Urbonas, Managing Director of Visma Lietuva, was the one who came up with the idea for Angis.net. Together with several partners, including LRT, Bebras and Infobalt, Visma Lietuva was able to bring the idea to life. Urbonas hopes it will become a valuable tool both for educational institutions and for people wanting to learn to program independently.
“We want educational opportunities to not be restricted by children’s social environment, financial capabilities or place of residence. Within our company, we have many examples where the ability to understand and master a programming language does not have to depend on any social or demographic factors, and the right choice made at school can become a solid foundation for the future,” Urbonas says.
“The sooner society understands it, the faster we will move forward. Programming opens up incredible career opportunities and we want as many children as possible across Lithuania to make use of these opportunities.”
The educational platform is free and allows tens of thousands of users to be logged in and study at the same time.
“Quality content in the video format allows everyone to learn at their selected time and desired pace. An automated task-checking and assistance system helps monitor if a learner has absorbed the knowledge properly. Lessons taught by real IT professionals are more interesting, while the practical application of programming skills encourages teenagers to take further interest in the subject,” Urbonas explains.
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Will also become available in Scandinavia
The idea of the teaching platform has received a lot of attention, and already secured funding. Seeing the success in Lithuania, the Visma Group has decided to adapt—and launch—the free teaching platform also in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
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