Join the Notre Dame Center for STEM Education in Celebrating the Hour of Code

Join the University of Notre Dame Center for STEM Education in celebrating Computer Science Education Week by promoting and participating in the Hour of Code!

The Hour of Code is an effort organized by Code.org to bring computer science to students and to show that everyone can learn the basics of computer programming.  During last year’s campaign, the Hour of Code reported that 15 millions students participated and that more females tried computer science than in the last 70 years!

The goal this year is to build on last year’s success and have tens of millions of students try programming during the Hour of Code between December 8-14, 2014.  The efforts during Computer Science Education Week are part of a larger effort by Code.org to have 100 millions students to complete an Hour of Code by the end of the calendar year!

We encourage you to try the Hour of Code and bring computer science into your classrooms.  The event introduces computation thinking and logic, while providing an authentic context to expand problem-solving skills.  There is no specific “hour” for the Hour of Code and you can use anytime during the week of December 8-14, 20014.  Code.org has a variety of hour-long tutorials for students of all ages and abilities.  Try out a few of the options athttp://code.org/learn.

Don’t worry if you aren’t comfortable with computer programming yourself!  All of the tutorials are self-guided and the site offers suggestions for all learning environments!  If you don’t have Internet access on devices for all of your students, they can work in pairs or small groups.  In fact, Code.org recommends this, so that the students can help each other and see that computer programming is social and collaborative.  If you don’t have any Internet or if consistent bandwidth is a concern, you can even complete unplugged or offline tutorials.

For more information about how to host an Hour of Code and to explore the available resources, please visithttp://hourofcode.com/us/resources/how-to.  Get inspired and excited by watching the Hour of Code’s promotionalvideo.

We hope that you will join us in participating in the Hour of Code and be sure to tweet at us (@STEMatND) with pictures and successes stories!