Computer Coding


 December 2 is the start of Computer Science Education Week.  Code.org is launching the Hour of Code as part of Computer Science Education Week.  It's a short introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code" and show that anyone can learn the basics to be a maker, a creator, an innovator.  This will raise awareness and generate interest in the computer science field.   


Today, we are surrounded by technology.  Commerce, communication, entertainment, and more, all rely on computers.  Yet, very few of us know how they actually work.  Computer Science education is an increasingly important foundation for success and everybody can benefit from learning the basics. 


We encourage parents to explore fun and easy computer programming sites, geared for kids. 

Try these cool Computer Programming Websites:

Scratch     (http://scratch.mit.edu/)

With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community. Ask your parents to register for free!  Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century. Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. It is provided free of charge.

Using an innovative programming environment to support the creation of 3D animations, the Alice Project provides tools and materials for teaching and learning computational thinking, problem solving, and computer programming across a spectrum of ages and grade levels.  There’s a tool called StoryTelling Alice that is especially good for users who want to make animated stories. It's also a good place for beginners to start before graduating to the more advanced Alice.

Hackety Hack (http://hackety.com/)


Taking programming for kids to the next level, Hackety Hack teaches the absolute basics of the Ruby programming language. Ruby is the foundation of many desktop and web applications such as Twitter, Shopify and Hulu and is a great starting point for command based programming. Students use an integrated text editor to begin building ruby apps and by the end will be comfortable with basic programming syntax. Hackety Hack is an open source application that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

Codecademy (www.codeacademy.com)


Codecademy gets you coding as soon as you open the page and is a fun, social introduction to programming for kids. Aimed at higher level students, courses focus on generic programming skills and JavaScript development. Codecademy is different to other courses in it’s very interactive approach to programming. Students work through an integrated terminal that gives feedback as they code. The social element is grown through earning badges and sharing progress with friends

Code.org (http://code.org/learn)


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