GitHub Education

At GitHub HQ, the Undercity Hackathon with Hack Club brought together teenage student builders from around the world. Here are the next three student-designed projects pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with hardware: 🌡️ Non-Contact Thermometer by Souptik Samanta (15, India) A sleek thermometer built with an STM32 microcontroller, custom PCB, USB-C, GPIO expansion, and a rechargeable battery. Entirely designed and fabricated by hand—including the case. 💻 Pico+ by Evan Yu (17, Canada) An ultra-compact microcontroller board powered by the RP2350 chip. Featuring 128Mb flash, 64Mb PSRAM, USB-C, RGB LED, and both reset & user buttons—perfect for embedded development. 🔐 MicroKey by Evan Yu (17, Canada) An open-source FIDO U2F security key running PicoKeys firmware. Designed with a capacitive button, RP2350 microcontroller, and RGB LED—all packed into a custom USB-C form factor. We’re continuing this series throughout the summer—follow along for more inventive student creations!

🎙️ Introducing the GitHub Podcast  This podcast shares experiences and insights directly from open source contributors, maintainers, and tool creators. Expect new episodes every two weeks. In Episode 1, the hosts introduce themselves and highlight projects like Anime.js, Docs (an open-source collaborative editor), and CSS Zero, offering real-world examples for learners and educators. Why it matters for educators and learners: • Hear first-hand stories about how open source projects start, grow, and interconnect. • Get tangible project examples that can inspire classroom assignments, workshops, or independent coding exercises. • Consider themes of collaboration, inclusivity, and community design as discussion points or reflective prompts. Suggested classroom or learning uses: • Add selected episodes to course modules, coding club sessions, or mentorship programs. • Facilitate group reflections on open source governance, tool choices, or inclusive contribution strategies. • Recommend episodes for professional development in mentoring, teacher development, or learning circles. 🎧 Tune in at gh.io/ghpodcast

Kick off your summer with the GitHub Community Exchange Summer Project! The Community Exchange Summer Project is underway—a 7-day, open community event designed to help you learn, build, and connect through open source. Each day brings a new topic or activity, including: - Exploring how Community Exchange works - Tips for making your first contribution - Showcasing student-led projects - Opportunities to connect and collaborate with peers Whether you’re a student, mentor, or educator, this project is about hands-on learning and real collaboration—all in the open. Where to start: 🏁 Visit the Community Exchange Summer Project hub: gh.io/AAxdrw0 1️⃣ Jump into Day 1: Why Community Exchange? gh.io/AAxdzls 2️⃣ Explore Day 2: Setting up your project and making your first contribution: gh.io/AAxe7bk Whether you’re looking to kickstart your open source journey, connect with a global community, or mentor the next generation of developers, there’s a space for you here. Questions? Drop into the discussions and introduce yourself—our team and the community are here to support you.

One of the things my team owns that I'm VERY proud of is Visual Studio Code for Education. We just released our authoring tool so you (educator or not) can publish your own courses and lessons AND they'll be saved to your GitHub! Learn more, and please share with educators! Many congrats to Jacqueline Russell and the team for this big release! https://lnkd.in/gcQDXEdU

At the Undercity Hackathon hosted by Hack Club at GitHub HQ, students unleashed their imaginations and created hardware projects inspired by fantasy, games, and nature itself. Check out these remarkable builds from the next batch of student innovators: 👁️ The Biblically Accurate Macropad by Alex Tran (15, USA) A uniquely designed macro keypad inspired by biblical angels, featuring custom keycap rings, an RP2040 microcontroller, and QMK firmware—creatively nicknamed "Bobby." ⌚ PyP-Boy by @PonderSlime A faithful, fully functional recreation of the Pip-Boy from the Fallout video games, powered by Raspberry Pi and equipped with electroplated housing, tactile knobs, memory foam padding, and full RTL-SDR radio capability. 🌸 Flora by Akshara (17, Singapore) An elegantly designed mechanical flower that senses your presence—opening and closing its petals powered by Arduino Uno, distance sensors, and servo motors, inspired by a passion for craft flowers. Stay connected as we share more inspiring projects crafted by young builders throughout this summer!

Today we’re releasing GitHub Spark — a new tool in Copilot that turns your ideas into full-stack apps, entirely in natural language. I've enjoyed creating with Spark myself, but even more, I’ve enjoyed seeing what you're building: https://lnkd.in/gQ_swwt3

Ever seen a custom-built mini vending machine, a fully wireless ergonomic keyboard, or an interactive LED accessory inspired by a videogame? At Hack Club's Undercity, high school students spent four intensive days at GitHub HQ creating these innovative hardware projects: 🍬 Mini-Vending Machine by Selena (16, Canada) A fully functional tabletop vending machine powered by Arduino Uno R3, continuous servos, an LCD screen, and push buttons. Drop in a coin, select left or right, and get your "god pack" if you're lucky! ⌨️ SplitWave by Ankush (17, India) A beautifully designed wireless split keyboard featuring a column-stagger layout and 44 keys. Powered by a Supermini nRF52840, this build offers ergonomic comfort with MBK keycaps and Kailh Choc V1 switches. 💡 Radiant by Alonso Banda (16, Mexico) An interactive, color-changing LED ring accessory controlled by a XIAO ESP32-C3 board. Inspired by the androids from the game Detroit: Become Human, it even features a custom control panel and RadiantOS software. Stay tuned—we're spotlighting more from the 64 inspiring student projects built at Undercity throughout the summer.

There’s one week left to apply for the GitHub Campus Experts program (deadline 📅 July 31). Campus Experts are student leaders who bridge the gap between classroom theory and real-world, open-source collaboration. Over a six-week remote training you’ll learn to: • Design inclusive tech events—hackathons, meet-ups, workshops • Master public speaking & technical writing • Secure sponsorship, budget, and swag for your community • Grow a network of peers and GitHub mentors around the globe Why apply? 🎤 Build in-demand leadership skills before you graduate 🤝 Put your school on the map by hosting industry-grade events 🛠️ Get firsthand experience with GitHub’s developer tools ✅ Eligibility: enrolled students with ≥1 academic year remaining, GitHub account for ≥6 months, verified through the GitHub Student Developer Pack. Feel free to share with students who love building community! 🔗 Learn more at gh.io/campusexperts

What happens when you give talented high schoolers four days, PCB mills, soldering irons, 3D printers, and free rein to build? In July, Hack Club’s Undercity brought together a group of inventive young hackers at GitHub’s headquarters in San Francisco. These students earned their way to the event by completing hardware challenges through Hack Club’s "Highway" program—and once there, they dove into four days of intensive, creative engineering. We're showcasing highlights from 64 mind-blowing teenage student projects created at Undercity. Here are the first three: 🎮 Jukebox by Daniel Davidson (16, USA) Ever wanted a real-world Minecraft jukebox? Daniel built one using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 and an RC522 NFC scanner. Insert custom-made discs, and the tunes start playing—straight out of the game. 💻 Icepi Zero A Raspberry Pi Zero-sized FPGA dev board featuring 28 GPIO pins, USB-to-JTAG programming, and 256Mb SDRAM. Open-source, ultra-flexible, and ready to power ambitious emulation projects—with over 250 hours of development invested. ✈️ Lover Jet by Emely Lugo (16, NJ) An Arduino-powered RC transmitter controls a cardboard F-22 Raptor jet using NRF24L01+ transceivers. Built from scratch, this jet proves cardboard and code can truly take flight. "It's a lover, not a fighter." Stay tuned—this is just the beginning. Each week, we’ll highlight more groundbreaking creations from this inspiring generation of builders.

🤩 ToDiagram and SlideCoach Join the Student Developer Pack! Looking to impress at your summer internship or prepare for the school year? Explore ToDiagram and SlideCoach for software designed to help your work stand out. That’s right! We have not one, but two new additions to the Student Developer Pack. We’re thrilled to welcome these offers and can’t wait to hear how they help you level up how you think, build, and present. ToDiagram makes it easy to edit and explore complex data via interactive diagrams. Designed for anyone who works with JSON, YAML, XML or CSV files, we’re partnering with ToDiagram to offer students their Pro Plan including full editor access, no data limits, and up to 10 documents stored in the cloud. The best part? By visually representing your data, you are able to quickly spot patterns, relationships, and errors. Once noticed, ToDiagram’s internal functionality allows you to edit the data directly. To get started, claim your offer here: gh.io/todiagramsdp SlideCoach harnesses the power of AI to help you practice your presentations, giving you instant feedback and essential performance analytics. Enjoy 2,000 free credits for SlideCoach—equivalent to 40 AI-powered presentation sessions—valid for an entire year after redemption. Not only does SlideCoach allow you to practice your presentation, but its AI acts like a member of your audience asking relevant questions and helping you prepare for the real thing! To get started sign up via your GitHub account here: gh.io/slidecoachsdp