The startup announced Monday that it is launching a course creator tool. Anyone can use the tool to make a game-like coding lesson of their own. According to the company, more than two thousand people have already signed up for the beta version via a link on the website.
Founder Zach Sims tells Mashable the idea emerged early on when the site received emails from both coding professionals who offered their expertise and learners who lamented the site's limited lesson offerings.
"It seemed natural to better connect the two groups," he said.
All user-created classes will receive a custom URL that can be shared with the creator's friends and networks. The startup has hired a full-time employee to screen content that has been submitted for inclusion on the main Codecademy site.
The latter group of courses will solve a problem that Codecademy faced with its quick growth. Lessons are currently restricted to JavaScript. Now the site will quickly expand to Python and Ruby on Rails, and it can leverage specific expertise in each of those areas rather than relying on one team of coders to create content for every language.
"You get the best class for each subject," Sims says, "not just one authoritative source."
Coders are already sharing their knowledge through free tutorials and blogs, and Sims thinks the promise of recognition and a large audience will be enough to lure them to Codecademy while keeping their courses free.