The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. It takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. Students across Westerville City Schools participated by engaging in a coding activity for at least one hour during the week of December 5-11. Code.org organizes the annual Hour of Code campaign which has engaged 10% of all students in the world, and provides the leading curriculum for K-12 computer science in the largest school districts in the United States. Code.org is supported by generous donors including Microsoft, Facebook, the Infosys Foundation, Google, Omidyar Network, and many more.
Mark Twain Elementary School fifth graders, for example, celebrated Hour of Code last Thursday with special visitor Mark Vukovic, a high school computer science teacher and a Mark Twain parent. He spent the day discussing computer programming with students, and leading them through a series of coding activities, including building a simple app for mobile devices, creating computer game art, and programming their own games. Pupils earned certificates of completion and stickers for their participation. This is Mr. Vukovic’s second Hour of Code visit to Mark Twain.
On Friday, December 9, every class at Emerson Elementary School expanded their 21st century skills by participating in the Hour of Code, which helps introduce students to computer science coding basics with through fun interactive online activities. Students got to choose a game theme, like Minecraft or Star Wars, then learned how to enter lines of code to play the game and achieve leveled goals. Community volunteers from Accenture were on hand to both lead students through the coding demonstrations, and to answer questions about how computer-related skills can help in many career fields. Group work and collaboration were also emphasized as important to learn and practice for future technology jobs. “Being able to work well with your colleagues is so important to getting the job done,” remarked one volunteer.