The Coding School is collaborating with IBM Quantum to offer a first-of-its-kind quantum computing course for 5,000 high school students and above, designed to make quantum education globally accessible and to provide high-quality virtual STEM education. To ensure an equitable future quantum workforce, the course is free. Students can apply here.
“While quantum computing will revolutionize the world, few opportunities exist to make quantum accessible to K-12 students or the general population today,” notes Kiera Peltz, the founder and executive director of The Coding School. “We are proud to collaborate with IBM Quantum, a global leader in quantum computing, to ensure the next generation is equipped with the skills necessary for the future of work.”
The course, Qubit by Qubit’s Introduction to Quantum Computing, will run for a full academic year, from October 2020 to May 2021, and consists of weekly live lectures, labs, and problem sets. Students are eligible to receive high school course credit for this course. The course is University of California A-G accredited and is in the process of WASC accreditation. In addition to students registering independently, TCS is working with high schools to offer this course during the school day, making it the first time quantum computing is widely available as a for-credit course at the high school level.
Taught live by MIT and Oxford University quantum scientists, the course has been developed for students with no prior quantum computing experience and introduces students to the foundational concepts of quantum computing, including quantum mechanics, quantum information and computation, and quantum algorithms. Students will work with Qiskit, an open-source quantum software development kit, and the IBM Quantum Experience platform to run quantum circuits on real quantum computers. Lead instructors are Francisca Vasconcelos, a Rhodes Scholar and MIT graduate, and Amir Karamlou, a Graduate Fellow in MIT’s Engineering Quantum Systems group.
“This year, more than ever before, students and educators are moving beyond the traditional classroom setting to online platforms like The Coding School,” said Liz Durst, Director, IBM Quantum & Qiskit Community. “While this is a great challenge, IBM Quantum is excited to sponsor 5,000 students from around the world who are curious about quantum computing to start learning as early as high school about the fundamentals of how to program real quantum processors. We’re proud to be collaborating with the Qubit by Qubit initiative on this Introduction to Quantum Computing course, working together to deliver a community-based approach to learning with our own best educational experts, tools, and resources such as the Qiskit Textbook.”
Beyond increasing accessibility to quantum education, TCS and IBM Quantum are dedicated to ensuring the future quantum workforce is diverse and inclusive. Prior quantum courses by TCS have had over 70 percent students from historically underrepresented backgrounds in STEM. For this year-long course, students have already registered from over 60 countries. Students from communities traditionally underrepresented in STEM are strongly encouraged to apply, and high school students will be prioritized.
“I am eager to share my appreciation of this nascent field with students, especially those at the high school level,” said Vasconcelos. “Through this TCS and IBM Quantum collaboration, we are training a diverse global cohort of future quantum engineers, researchers, and business leaders.”
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