Angry Birds and Disney princesses will be the focus in classrooms at Lois S. Hornsby Middle School next week, as students participate in the second annual national Hour of Code.
The popular characters will be used to teach students in sixth through eighth grade about computer programming during the weeklong event from Dec. 8 through 14. During Hour of Code sessions, students play a series of games that teach basic coding skills.
The event is the brainchild of Hadi Partovi, a tech company adviser and investor. Partovi, who has previously worked as an adviser for Facebook, Dropbox and MySpace, launched the Hour of Code in 2013 through his nonprofit organization Code.org.
The organization works to expand student access to and interest in technology and computer programming in an increasingly digital world. During its first year of operation, nearly 15 million students nationwide participated in the Hour of Code.
The organization hopes to have 100 million students worldwide participate in the 2014 Hour of Code, and Hornsby Instructional Technology Resource Teacher Donna Crinklaw is making sure some of those students will be from Williamsburg-James City County Schools.
Crinklaw said the voluntary event is meant to be fun for participating students, but also teaches important job skills for the future.
“Thirty thousand computer science jobs are unfilled in Virginia,” she said. “Up to 70,000 will by unfilled by the end of [Gov. Terry] McAuliffe’s term. Coding is a 21st-century skill that is desperately needed.”
The Hour of Code teaches those skills through online games using a simple coding language called “Blockly.” A Java-type program, Blockly was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and uses short videos and drag-and-drop exercises to teach users about computer programming and create simple coding.
“It lets them lift the cover and look at the engine,” Crinklaw said.
Five teachers at Hornsby will host Hour of Code Sessions, and Crinklaw said two-thirds of Grade 6, two-thirds of Grade 7 and one-third of Grade 8 students will be able to participate in the event.
The event will culminate Dec. 14 with a visit from Facebook software developer and 2004 Lafayette graduate Matthew Crinklaw, who will visit with students and talk about his experiences in the tech field.
This year will be the first Hour of Code at Hornsby, but it is not the first appearance of computer programming lessons in the classroom in Williamsburg-James City County Schools.
Crinklaw said Advanced Placement C++ programming classes were offered at the high school level 10 years ago, but were discontinued due to lack of interest.
Crinklaw said she hopes this year’s event regenerates interest among younger students in programming and coding, as it becomes a more popular job skill.
“Facebook has been searching for a couple of years, but they can’t find people who are qualified and who are American citizens for security [programming],” she said. “The market is wide open for people who want tech jobs. Capitol One has dropped the requirement for a B.S. if you can demonstrate basic programming skills.”
The Hour of Code does not begin until next week, but Crinklaw said the event has already had an effect on the school.
“One teacher is planning on starting a programming club after school,” she said.
