Mode To Code’s Jacob Shaul Teaches Coding To All Ages

Glen Park’s Jacob Shaul is making computer coding accessible for all ages. 

The San Francisco University High School junior spent the last year, with help from UHS’ Dean of Teaching & Learning Byron Philhour, crafting and teaching people across the globe how to code websites, video games and artificial intelligence programs. Through his group, Mode to Code, Shaul and 13 volunteer teachers have brought free lessons to six schools and seven assisted-living homes across San Francisco like Presidio Middle School and the Frank Residences. They also host virtual classes in five countries, namely India and Italy, and in other states like Vermont.

Shaul plans to expand the program to Canada, El Salvador and Spain, and hopes to bring it to Ingleside’s own Aptos Middle School in the fall.

“Our entire program is looking to allow students of all ages, regardless of background in software or background really in general, to be able to learn how to code and use the technology because that's really the future,” Shaul said. “We're trying to help out schools that might not have the capacity to teach something like a coding class.”

What started as a desire to learn more after taking an advanced placement computer science class quickly turned into a full-time business. Though he is still balancing his high school workload, he utilizes his free time to teach, including hosting virtual classes at 4:30 a.m.

He and his team are also gearing up to host a hack-a-thon, called UHS Hacks, for high school students in September.

“This is what my passion is,” Shaul said. “I really like computer science, and I love teaching, so I make the time for it.”

The Ingleside Light met with Shaul to learn more about Mode to Code.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you get people to join your program?

I like to think it's the t-shirts, but really, we just have an amazing team of students who are really passionate about computer science and teaching in general. They're all from my high school, so I know that they are students who are mature. It actually didn't take as much incentive as I thought it would to get them to help me. It's finding the schools that's a little more difficult.

What does a typical class look like?

It's a four-week program. It meets once a week for about 55 to 60 minutes. I always like to start with Kahoot!, which was one of my favorite things that I did when I was in school. I think middle schoolers, especially, really liked that. We start with the Kahoot! of what we did last wee, so that they can kind of review and catch up. We have a 20 to 30 minute slideshow where I go through the new topics, and then we start coding, hands-on. Everyone has their computers, and we begin coding and building our own websites.

What’s one piece of advice you have for someone who wants to get into coding?

Have an idea of something that you want to build first, and make that as simple as possible. For me, what I initially wanted to do was make a website that people could log into with Google and all that kind of stuff, and then have it track their progress as they learned. I quickly found that it was way too complicated for just me. So, starting with an idea, but that's simplified to basically its bare minimum, building that first and then expanding from there is what I would definitely recommend. Keeping it simple at first, just while you learn the basics and know what you want to do. There are so many software things. You can build apps, websites, whole bunch of stuff. Find the thing that you want to build and then build off of there.

Why is coding so important to learn, especially for different ages?

I think coding, really at its basic, is being able to communicate at a basic level. It's being able to tell a computer exactly what you want it to do in a specific way, and I think that's really elegant. When you're talking to a human, they automatically fill in things for you, but when you're communicating with a piece of machinery, you have to do it exactly the way that it will understand it. I think that being able to communicate elegantly and efficiently is a skill that's really being lost, especially with the rise of AI and with people not really talking as much. I think having that ability to communicate elegantly and efficiently is something that's going to be a really valuable skill, especially in the future.