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From playing games to building rockets: Portugal's Ubbu brings coding to primary school

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · · 429 words · By Valérie Gauriat
STEM Gender Gap Digital Literacy Educational Technology
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What to know about STEM Gender Gap

Just a day before the summer holidays, excitement fills the air at Lisbon's PaRK International School.

Claims checked 7
Techniques found 2
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Just a day before the summer holidays, excitement fills the air at Lisbon's PaRK International School.

Why it matters

Yet one last lesson has the pupil’s full attention in a primary school class .

Common ground

Tablets in hand, they navigate colourful games, solve puzzles or explore the International Space Station.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Glittering Generalities: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/08/07/from-playing-games-to-building-roc…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Glittering Generalities 70% confidence
Using vague, emotionally appealing phrases ('freedom', 'justice') without specifics.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing glittering generalities helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 7 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

verified Verified 4
info Single Source 2
cancel Disputed 1
info
Claim 1: “Through partnerships with companies and foundations, Ubbu is offered free to public schools in disadvantaged areas of Portugal.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided for claim 6 is completely irrelevant (discussing relationship issues and cheating), and no other sources mention partnerships for free access in disadvantaged areas of Portugal.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Mar 13, 2026 · While it's best to have an open conversation if you're concerned about cheating, here are a few signs your girlfriend may be sleeping with someone else: [1] She starts losing interest i…
https://www.wikihow.com/Can-You-Tell-if-Your-Girlfriend-Slep…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 5, 2025 · When you've been hit with the news that your girlfriend has cheated on you, it can be hard to handle. Nothing rocks your sense of trust and honesty like finding out about infidelity.
https://www.wikihow.life/Understand-a-Cheating-Girlfriend
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — What’s worse he had a Google files with he’s old sex tapes with one of them and a bunch of folders with other ex girlfriend’s pictures. He promised after I found out it’s over and that we can fix that…
https://www.reddit.com/r/cheatingexposed/
verified
Claim 2: “Children learn by assembling visual coding blocks rather than writing code.”
VERIFIED
Evidence explicitly describes Ubbu as a 'block-based coding programme' and mentions 'CODING MADE EASY WITH ubbu BLOCK BASE CODING'.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Learn, code, and create. Resources to support our global pedagogic vision. Learn with our curriculum.Unlock ubbu’s full learning experience. With our easy to use interface and step-by-step tutorials, …
https://ubbu.io/en?trk=organization_guest_main-feed-card-tex…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — CODING MADE EASY WITH ubbu BLOCK BASE CODING. Coding is a basic literacy in the digital age, and it is important to prepare the young learners for the future.
https://assets.website-files.com/5eee5679d97fc34b03887da4/5f…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Start Learning coding with mBlock. Create with mBlock online block-based editor Today. Learn AI and robotic programming with mBlock.
https://ide.mblock.cc/
cancel
Claim 3: “Available in four languages, ubbu now reaches around half a million children through more than 8,000 teachers in 20 countries.”
DISPUTED
Sources provide conflicting numbers. One source mentions over 350,000 children and 20 countries, while another mentions over one million licenses sold. The claim of 'half a million' falls between these figures, but the specific numbers for teachers (8,000 vs 3,780 or 7,000) vary across sources.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — ubbu has already reached over 350,000 children across more than 20 countries. In 2024 alone, 132,000 students completed over 17.8 million activities on the platform, supported by 3,780 teachers in 977…
https://european-social-fund-plus.ec.europa.eu/en/social-inn…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — At ubbu, we teach kids how to code through game-based lessons. Every lesson is based on 1 of the SDGs.School. Unlock ubbu’s full learning experience. With our easy to use interface and step-by-step tu…
https://ubbu.io/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Now, ubbu is helping teachers and student to surf the digital “tsunami”, and it over one million licenses sold, it’s fast becoming an indispensable tool to bring computer science into any classroom.
https://www.eu-startups.com/2019/08/10-lisbon-based-startups…
verified
Claim 4: “They are learning coding through Ubbu, a Portuguese computer programming platform for children aged six to fourteen.”
VERIFIED
Although the specific evidence section for claim 0 was empty, the evidence provided for claim 5 explicitly contains a source from Euronews stating: 'Stanno imparando a programmare con Ubbu, una piattaforma portoghese di coding pensata per i bambini dai sei ai quattordici anni' (They are learning to program with Ubbu, a Portuguese coding platform designed for children from six to fourteen years).
verified
Claim 5: “All the narratives are linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals”
VERIFIED
Multiple sources confirm the link to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), stating 'Every lesson is based on 1 of the SDGs' and 'developed in accordance with the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals'.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals .ubbu teaches programming through game-based lessons - their students learn to build games, narratives, and program their own world!
https://goparity.com/project/ubbu-519
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web search NEUTRAL — The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the futur…
https://sdgs.un.org/goals
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that b…
https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals
verified
Claim 6: “Ubbu was developed by Code for All, a startup founded in 2015 by João Magalhães and a group of friends.”
VERIFIED
A web search result explicitly confirms that Ubbu was developed by Code for All, a startup founded in 2015 by João Magalhães and a group of friends.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Ubbu was developed by Code for All, a startup founded in 2015 by João Magalhães and a group of friends.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/general/from-playing-games-t…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Meet ubbu’s universe. Start this adventure with ubbu’s main characters. Each of them have their own personality and love for a specific STEAM topic. Coding and problem solving will help them advance i…
https://ubbu.io/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — What is ubbu? ubbu is a learning tool to teach computer science and coding to kids.Why ubbu? - Designed for all primary education teachers, regardless of experience. - Interdisciplinary lessons with S…
https://edtechimpact.com/products/ubbu/
info
Claim 7: “We're achieving a 50-50 audience in schools.”
SINGLE SOURCE
None of the provided evidence mentions the gender distribution or a '50-50 audience' in schools.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — UBBU is a platform for children from 6 to 12 y.o., offering an educational program to each grade of primary schools with more than 100 different lessons and challenges, developed in accordance with th…
https://portico.urban-initiative.eu/urban-stories/uia/ubbu-p…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Con i tablet in mano, si muovono tra giochi colorati, risolvono rompicapi o esplorano la Stazione spaziale internazionale. Stanno imparando a programmare con Ubbu, una piattaforma portoghese di coding…
https://it.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/08/07/dai-giochi-ai-r…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — For that reason ubbu has created a new feature that allows you to generate what we have called "Password cards". To use ubbu, students need to enter their username and password, which is initially the…
https://intercom.help/play-ubbu/en/articles/6990775-generate…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.