The Hour of Code is Coming ...
Hadi Partovi
Founder, Code.org // Angel investor: Facebook, DropBox, airbnb, Uber, etc // Boards: Axon, MNTN.
Every student should learn computer science. Let’s start with one hour.
Every student in the US public school system today is asked to learn how to dissect a frog, or to solve the quadratic equation, or that water is H2O. Why? Because learning these things helps us understand the world around us, or builds our critical thinking skills.
Meanwhile, most Americans now have a computer in their pocket or on their desktop. Most households drive a car with dozens of computers in it. Computers are involved when you make a phone call, watch a TV show, transact at your bank, or take a train. Our world is increasingly surrounded by computing devices, yet 90% of US schools don’t teach even the basics of understanding how this technology works, how to “dissect” an app, or how to make one.
By 2020, programming jobs will outnumber students graduating into the field by one million, yet fewer students study computer science than a decade ago. But even if all these jobs were filled, we’d still want every student to learn the basics, just like we teach them the quadratic equation, or how to dissect a frog.
When I first started on the journey to solve this problem, it was a hobby. My twin brother Ali and I co-founded a small nonprofit, and I set out on a hobby to make a video to highlight America’s opportunity in computer science education. It just seemed like the right thing to do. This was right after Steve Jobs had passed away - I realized I’d be his age in 15 years, and I wondered what my footprint would be when I turned 50. I proposed the video idea to Jack Dorsey and Drew Houston while at an Allen & Co conference. They said “yes”, so I was off to the races.
Within hours of launching our video, we were overwhelmed by an outpouring of support: the video hit over 10 million views; over 3 million students tried learning online; over 800,000 people signed our petition; over 13,000 schools asked us to bring computer science to their curriculum; and over 25,000 software engineers volunteered to help. My hobby turned into a full-time job overnight, and the one-man hobby has grown to a team of dozens in a whirlwind 3 months.
Earlier this week, Code.org launched our next big initiative: The Hour of Code. It’s a worldwide campaign to recruit 10 million students of all ages to try computer science during Computer Science Education Week this December (9-15).
At a time when our economy slogs through uncertainty and politicians are deeply divided on almost every issue, educating students in computer science now is an opportunity to grow our economy, to provide the unemployed a pathway to the middle-class, to maintain our national competitiveness, and to prepare the next generation for the 21st Century.
What is the Hour of Code?
The Hour of Code is designed to demystify code, to pull back the veil that separates the average American from the Mark Zuckerbergs, to show that computer science is not rocket-science, and anybody can learn the basics. Code.org will offer tutorials from many third parties, and we want to recruit teachers, schools, employers, and community organizers to host learning sessions. The tutorials will work on any computer, tablet, or smartphone, and we’ll even host “unplugged” exercises for pen+paper. Code.org’s own tutorial will feature lectures from Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, and artwork from Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies. And we’re giving away fantastic prizes to every teacher who participates.
The Hour of Code is just the first step in a long journey. In the past three months we’ve built an unprecedented coalition of partners — Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, Yahoo!, Electronic Arts, Zynga, the College Board, Teach For America, the Boys and Girls Clubs, the National Science Teachers Association, and over 100 others -- all united on a vision that every student in every school deserves a chance to learn computer science.
We can make a difference
I firmly believe that exposing every student to computer programming is the gift the tech industry owes back to America. Computer science is foundational for virtually every field today, and it will be central to solving the challenges of tomorrow. It’s time we catch up.
Please join us. Host an Hour of Code, and share the movement with your schools and employers. All it takes one hour. Learn more at https://hourofcode.com.
Co-Founder FabGate
11 年I have seen the videos and I think that is a great idea! There are so many people I know, who are afraid of "computer code". They just try to avoid it. I still remember, when I started my studies in Computer Science. A lot of student were afraid of coding and more that 50% have given up their CS-degree after the first semester. I think it is key to make kids familiar with coding, so that "codephobia" does not become permanent or more intensive. Hadi Partovi, good luck with your project!
Business and IT Advising and Consulting - Iowa and Florida
11 年This is an excellent idea! Very simple suggestion. Fits in with many of the other STEM initiatives. Outside of the disagreements on whether you need a CS degree or not to write software and whether this might blur that mystical line of what a school offers and what it does not, introducing kids to this opportunity is a great idea. Its a similar concept/initiative like Project Lead the Way where we begin to introduce kids to engineering and the many fields it has to offer in JR/SR HS. Its not necessarily a CS degree argument, but helping our youth explore, learn and perhaps eventually pursue a new found interest that allows them to be a productive member of society in a field that has opportunity. The whole argument of whether a CS degree is needed to write software is sort of nebulous - its not you or I that is going to change that path at a macro level, its the hiring employers. Forever and a day and well into the foreseeable future, employers will require a degree in the subject matter for the position they are hiring. Fair or not, right or wrong. Its along the investment analogy of "don't fight the tape."
Screenwriter, Artist/Music Producer, Author, Licensed Insurance Agent
11 年I agree. I learned computer science at a young age.
Adm at Netz work
11 年To stay in the Digital world a must to learn the computer science right from start for the future in the cyber world.
Chief Ideator at Midwest Ideations
11 年First of all a bit of history. 40 years ago most of those who became programmers had math or physics degress, some who got into business programming studied business. Then the fortune 500 companies CEO's did their usual whining about a shortage of programmers, the result was the 'Computer Science' degree which was created by the universities to benefit their tenured profesors by taking a two year course and making it a four year degree, dumbing everything down. The bottom line is that CS degrees are worhtless, and now with a plethora of 2bit languages created by those with CS degrees, all that is getting taught is how to write code. Thus, to make an analogy, we are producing an excess of bricklayers when what we really need are more architects.