Google's suite of free computer science education tools — grouped loosely under the "Code with Google" umbrella — represents one of the largest investments by a major technology company in K-12 CS education accessible to all students. For educators running girls' STEM programs, after-school coding clubs, or classroom CS education without CS background, these tools offer a combination of zero cost, curriculum structure, and brand recognition that makes them a practical starting point. The question is not whether to use Google's CS education tools — their quality and accessibility make them default resources in many girls-in-STEM programs — but how to use them strategically given their particular strengths, gaps, and the specific needs of girls in STEM education. This guide covers the key tools, what they teach, and how they fit into an educator-run girls' CS program.
CS First: Google's Primary K-12 CS Curriculum
CS First is Google's structured CS education program for students ages 9–14 (roughly grades 4–8), providing free curriculum, educator training, and a project-based coding environment built on Scratch (the block-based coding language developed at MIT Media Lab). CS First organizes its curriculum into themed "clubs" around subjects that students care about — storytelling, music, art, sports, game design, fashion — rather than teaching coding as an abstract technical discipline.
This thematic framing is deliberate and evidence-based. Research on girls' engagement with CS consistently shows that girls are more likely to engage with and persist in coding education when the purpose of the coding is connected to something they find meaningful — telling a story, making music, solving a problem they care about — rather than when coding is presented as intrinsically valuable or as a path to a job in tech. CS First's themed structure directly addresses this finding.
The educator infrastructure for CS First is genuinely useful: Google provides complete lesson plans, facilitation guides, slide decks, and instructional videos that allow a teacher or club leader with no CS background to run a CS First club competently. The "Club Leader" model is designed for non-specialist educators — it acknowledges that most of the adults running after-school coding programs are not CS professionals and builds the curriculum around what they can actually do.
CS First is free. There is no charge for the curriculum materials, the educator account, or the student accounts. It is available in multiple languages. For schools and programs in under-resourced communities where paid EdTech subscriptions are not feasible, CS First is often the most accessible high-quality CS curriculum available.
Applied Digital Skills: Google Workspace in the Classroom
Applied Digital Skills is a different tool from CS First — it is a video-based curriculum teaching students to use Google Workspace tools (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites) to complete real-world projects. The projects are practical: building a budget spreadsheet, creating a presentation for a job application, designing a website for a community project, analyzing data with Google Sheets.
For girls' STEM programs, Applied Digital Skills is most valuable as a digital literacy and productivity tool rather than as a computer science curriculum. Students who complete Applied Digital Skills modules learn skills they will use in almost any professional or academic context — not the programming and algorithmic thinking that CS First teaches. The distinction matters for program design: Applied Digital Skills builds digital competence; CS First builds computational thinking; they serve different goals and are complementary rather than interchangeable.
Applied Digital Skills is also free and available in multiple languages. The video-based format allows students to work at their own pace, making it useful for self-directed learning outside of structured class time. For women in STEM programs that include adult learners or working professionals alongside students, Applied Digital Skills' flexible format is an advantage that CS First's club-oriented model doesn't provide.
Google for Education: The Institutional Layer
Beyond CS First and Applied Digital Skills, Google for Education is the broader institutional program through which schools access Google Workspace for Education (formerly G Suite for Education), Chromebooks, and Google's professional development resources for educators. For educators running girls' STEM programs within a school that uses Google for Education, the institutional relationship provides access to Classroom (the LMS), Meet (for video instruction), and administrative tools that can structure a girls' coding program within the school's existing technology ecosystem.
Google for Education also administers the Google Science Fair (for student researchers), the Google for Startups initiatives (for college-age founders), and a range of other programs that girls' STEM programs can point students toward as they advance beyond the K-8 CS First curriculum.
Pedagogical Alignment with Girls-in-STEM Research
The pedagogy underlying CS First aligns reasonably well with the research literature on girls' CS engagement. Key research findings and their alignment with CS First's design:
Purpose-driven learning: Girls are more likely to persist in CS when they can connect coding to goals they find meaningful. CS First's themed clubs (storytelling, art, social good) directly implement this principle. The "social good" theme in particular — where students code projects addressing problems in their communities — is among the strongest pedagogical choices for engaging girls who see themselves as future contributors to their communities rather than future technologists.
Collaborative learning environments: Girls tend to engage more deeply with coding in collaborative, discussion-rich environments than in competitive or individually-ranked ones. CS First's club model, which emphasizes group activities and peer sharing of projects, supports this. Educators should explicitly de-emphasize any competitive elements (who finished first, whose code is "best") and emphasize collaborative project development and peer feedback.
Female role models in instruction: Research consistently shows that girls in CS education benefit from exposure to female instructors, role models, and mentors. CS First's facilitation videos include women Googlers and women CS educators — a deliberate choice that is worth noting for educators who are not themselves CS-specialist women and who want to supplement their facilitation with representation.
Integrating Code with Google into Girls' STEM Programs
Practical integration patterns for girls' STEM programs:
After-school CS First clubs: The most common use. A teacher, librarian, or community volunteer runs a CS First club using Google's complete facilitation materials. No CS background required. Groups of 10–25 students meet weekly, complete themed projects in Scratch, and share their work. The structure is self-contained and the curriculum is fully provided.
Classroom integration alongside existing curriculum: CS First modules can be integrated into existing class time in subjects that align with the theme — art class running the Art theme, English class running the Storytelling theme. This integration approach exposes all students, not just those who opt into an after-school club, and reaches girls who would not self-select into an elective coding program but who engage when coding is contextualized within a subject they already value.
Progression pathway: CS First's block-based coding in Scratch can serve as a gateway to text-based programming languages (Python, JavaScript) taught through other platforms (Codecademy, Khan Academy's AP CS course, or the CS Principles AP curriculum). Designing a progression — CS First for ages 9–12, Python through Codecademy for ages 12–15, applied programming through project work for ages 15+ — gives girls' STEM programs a structured multi-year pathway.
Limitations of Code with Google Tools
CS First's reliance on Scratch means it does not teach industry-relevant programming languages. Students who complete CS First have learned computational thinking and project-based coding in a visual, beginner-friendly environment — but they have not learned Python, Java, or JavaScript. For girls who want to advance to competitive programming, high school computer science courses, or college-level CS, CS First is a foundation, not a destination.
Applied Digital Skills teaches Google-specific tools that, while widely used, are not the same as developing transferable technical skills. The program is genuinely useful for digital literacy but should not be positioned as CS education in the same category as programming instruction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Google CS First and is it free?
CS First is Google's free, curriculum-complete K-12 CS education program for students ages 9–14. It teaches block-based coding in Scratch through themed projects (storytelling, art, game design, social good). No educator CS background is required. All materials — lesson plans, facilitation guides, slide decks, instructional videos — are free at csfirst.withgoogle.com.
How is CS First different from Applied Digital Skills?
CS First teaches computational thinking and programming through project-based coding. Applied Digital Skills teaches digital literacy — how to use Google Workspace tools (Sheets, Docs, Sites) for real-world tasks. They serve complementary goals: CS First builds coding skills; Applied Digital Skills builds workplace digital productivity skills. Both are free.
Is Code with Google appropriate for educators without a CS background?
Yes — CS First is explicitly designed for non-specialist educators. Google provides complete facilitation materials that a teacher or volunteer with no programming experience can follow. The club model assumes the facilitator's role is guide and community builder, not technical expert.
What age group is CS First best suited for?
Ages 9–14 (roughly grades 4–8). The block-based Scratch environment is appropriate for students beginning their programming education. Students who have completed CS First and are ready for text-based programming (Python, JavaScript) should advance to tools like Codecademy, Khan Academy's CS curriculum, or the College Board's AP Computer Science Principles curriculum.
How does CS First support girls' engagement with computer science?
Through themed projects connected to subjects girls find meaningful (art, storytelling, social good), a collaborative club model that de-emphasizes competition, and facilitation videos featuring women Googlers and CS educators as role models. Research on girls in CS education shows that purpose-driven, collaborative learning with female role models significantly improves engagement and persistence.