Computer Science “touching” on the Hour of Code

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So last week I took part in the hour code to teach computer science basics to every student, CSEdWeek is a an event which runs from December 9 to 15.

Code.org, a new non-profit organization, initiated one of CSEdWeek’s prime events: the “Hour of Code.” The event aimed to introduce 10 million students of all ages to computer science ideas and tools.

This year my focus was building games and apps using Touchdevelop.com and the excellent resources from UK Microsoft Partners In Learning Teachers

Simon Johnson @clcsimon https://touchdevelop.weebly.com/

David Renton @drenton72 https://drenton72.wordpress.com

Ray Chambers @Lanky_Boi_Ray https://raychambers.wordpress.com

We held a number events with students of all ages teaching them coding for one hour by using TouchDevelop. Touchdevelop is as ideal as it a web based product so works on any device and is FREE.

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I hope our effort into the The Hour of Code helped demonstrate to parents, teachers, and students how accessible coding can be and, at a deeper level, we hope it will drive demand for expanded computer science courses and activities in secondary schools.

Read more from Microsoft Research Hour of Code Activities…

Learn more about exciting teaching tools.

· Code.org

· Hour of Code

· TouchDevelop’s Hour of Code page

· Kodu Game Lab

· .NET Gadgeteer

· Building your first windows 8 or Windows Phone app using Touchdevelop

· Get all your developer tools for FREE including Visual Studio Professional via DreamSpark