Apple Stores offering free 'Hour of Code' development classes this Wednesday

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Apple this week will participate in a worldwide campaign from Code.org, offering children and teenagers a one-hour introduction to computer science class at its retail locations throughout the U.S.

Code


Apple's "Hour of Code Youth Workshops" are designed to "demystify code," the company said, showing that anyone can learn the basics of computer programming. Interested parties can find their nearest Apple Store on the company's website, where they can also sign up in advance.

The Hour of Code is an effort to have 10 million people participate during Computer Science Education Week, which runs from Dec. 9 through 15.

Those who want to teach their own Hour of Code can find tips and instructions on the official Code.org site. There, a number of tutorials are provided in as many as 20 languages to allow students to participate.



According to Code.org, nearly 2 million people have learned an Hour of Code so far, with nearly 55 million lines of code having been written by students.

Support for the Hour of Code goes well beyond Apple, with President Barack Obama and Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor endorsing the event. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has also pitched in to promote the event, as well as entertainers ranging from Ashton Kutcher to Shakira.

Code.org said on Monday that this year's Computer Science Education Week will include 5 million students in 35,000 schools from 167 countries participating in their first Hour of Code.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    Great initiative!

    There's also a 9 minute video

    [VIDEO]
  • Reply 2 of 14
    Teenagers only?
  • Reply 3 of 14
    Teenagers only?

    I would like to think they'd allow folks from Redmond as well ¡
  • Reply 4 of 14
    Steve Jobs would approve. He believed every student should learn to code, as part of their education.
  • Reply 5 of 14

    Brilliant marketing!

  • Reply 6 of 14
    I don't care about the politicians and celebrities, but this is a nice promotion and no matter one's interests, understanding the basics of programming is a very good thing.
  • Reply 7 of 14

    Already made my reservation. Sweet!

  • Reply 8 of 14
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    I thought I'd read something about Microsoft doing this earlier today. After a bit of follow-up reading I see the "Hour of Code" is being offered by several different techs including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Twitter and Facebook. Really nice outreach!

    http://code.org/hourofcode
  • Reply 9 of 14
    Tynker is also participating in "Hour of Code" and has created tutorials for code.org to bring free interactive courses to kids in support of the nationwide campaign. Right now 8 new Tynker tutorials are available to play and help students learn how to code through interactive games and puzzles. Check it out! http://tynker.com/hourofcode.
  • Reply 10 of 14
    nikiloknikilok Posts: 383member
    /*
    Here is a JavaScript Code snippet
    */
    var hourOfCode = {hours:9,
    noOfLanguages : 20,
    startDate: "Dec 9 2013",
    endDate : "Dec 15 2013",
    verifyCode : function(hours,noOfLang){
    if(hours == 9 && noOfLang == 20){
    alert("The event starts on :" +hourOfCode.startDate+ " and ends on :" +hourOfCode.endDate);
    }
    else{
    alert("Enter the number of hours, no of languages again !");
    }
    } /* End Of Function */

    }; // End of Object

    hourOfCode.verifyCode(10,11);
    hourOfCode.verifyCode(9,20);

    ----------
    Guess what the output of this piece of JavaScript Code snippet would look , and you have figured out how to read code :)
  • Reply 11 of 14
    I've looked over most of the offerings for the One Hour of Coding, and have been disappointed. I have not found any offerings which really gives a flavor of programming or the general principles involved.

    I'll agree that the attempt is laudable. Over a several years, I've thought about how to it might be addressed and what ARE the fundamental ideas which should be addressed (without success I might add).

    In some sense, from a personal vantage, I'm both gratified and disappointed that those who are certainly smarter than I also haven't come up with the fundamentals either.

    The closest I've come is the idea that teaching simple SQL queries on a simple existing relational database would be the best approach along with being actually useful.
  • Reply 12 of 14
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    edit... d'oh!
  • Reply 13 of 14
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I feel the best place, at least in the US, for teenagers to learn to code is from taking a course at their community college. These are usually 15-18 weeks long and cost only very little per credit hour. You're probably talking about less than $150 for about 4 months of instruction at 3 hours a week of in class or online instruction, along with home assignments that cover the basic elements of any language. Not all instructors are equal but the cost to instruction ratio is quite high and long enough to get you going in the right direction if you are interested in coding. I think most (if not all) community colleges allow for students in HS to take these college courses.
  • Reply 14 of 14
    Better they learn this way than from some gang of coders on the streets.
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