Microsoft hosting Hour of Code tutorials focusing on Minecraft

From December 4 to 8, Microsoft is supporting educators, students and nonprofits to drive awareness for Computer Science Education Week and Hour of Code, a global call to action to spend an hour learning the basics of coding.

To get students coding, Microsoft has released a new Minecraft tutorial called Hero’s Journey and starting on December 4, Microsoft Stores across the country will host free coding workshops, giving kids a chance to use fun, interactive coding to learn how creativity and problem solving come together to make something of their own.

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Apple to offer free coding and fun challenges in stores for Hour of Code

Apple today opened registration for thousands of free Hour of Code sessions available at all Apple Stores from December 4 through 10. The company also introduced a new educational challenge in Swift Playgrounds and added new teacher resources to the Everyone Can Code curriculum to help teach Swift, Apple’s easy-to-learn programming language that anyone can use to create world-class apps.

For the fifth year, Apple Stores will participate in Hour of Code with daily coding sessions in celebration of Computer Science Education Week. Young aspiring coders can learn coding basics during a Kids Hour session, while those age 12 and above can use Swift Playgrounds on iPad to learn coding concepts and even program robots. A new Teacher Tuesdays session helps educators learn how to teach code to students using new resources and discussion topics.

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Apple to offer free coding workshops in Retail Stores

Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering: “Coding is just like any language, the earlier you’re exposed the more successful you’ll be."

Apple today opened registration for Hour of Code workshops at all 487 Apple retail stores worldwide, from December 5 through 11 in celebration of Computer Science Education Week. Among the most popular events at the Apple Store, Hour of Code workshops teach the basics of computer science with Code.org’s programming tutorials. Apple and Code.org share the goal of giving every student the opportunity to learn computer science.

“Hour of Code embodies our vision for Apple stores as a place for the community to gather, learn and be entertained,” said Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail. “We’re proud to introduce the Swift Playgrounds app into the workshops and honoured to again work side-by-side with Code.org on this incredibly important initiative. Hour of Code is one of the absolute highlights of the year for both our teams and the families that visit our stores.” 

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Microsoft supports Hour of Code as part of YouthSpark initative

Hour of Code sets students up to become future successes. It’s all about making coding attractive for young adults and fun for students and teaching them important life skills.

Microsoft’s partnership with Code.org is part of Microsoft YouthSpark, a global effort to empower youth to do more and achieve more, including expanding access to computer science education.

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