Ossining Schools to Hold 'Hour of Code' Events Next Week

Students at Ossining Schools will be among millions around the world participating next week in the Hour of Code Week, a series of events designed to get students interested in how to build computer codes.

After an estimated 15 million students participated last year, the Hour of Code is aiming for 100 million students worldwide to participate next week, which is also known as Computer Science Education Week. The Hour of Code is being billed as “the largest learning event in history.”

The event is organized by Code.org, a nonprofit organization that wants to expand student participation in the computer sciences.

“The Hour of Code Week is a terrific way to share Computer Science with students, staff and families,” said Jennifer Forsberg, Ossining’s Assistant Director of Technology, who organized the event. “The skills that programming and coding provide go beyond the technical pieces. Coding also uses critical thinking and collaboration.”

The Hour of Code Week fits into the District’s technology and computer science learning plans in the Ossining Schools, said Ms. Forsberg, and educators hope to provide additional opportunities to expand on the skills that coding offers into the curriculum.

The Hour of Code is not a set hour, so students can participate in the program at any time during the week by choosing from different Code.org video tutorials designed for students from kindergarten through high school.

Tech industry leaders Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg will appear in some of the tutorial videos, along with Disney computer animated characters Anna and Elsa from the hit film “Frozen.”

Most schools in Ossining will participate in Hour of Code activities, using software tools including Scratch Jr., Kodable, Lightbot, Tynker, and Hopscotch.

Ossining High School student will participate by using tutorials provided by Code.org.

Ossining has created its own Hour of Code website, where visitors can see the work students are doing during the week: https://sites.google.com/a/ossiningufsd.org/oufsd-coding/

To learn more about Hour of Code and to see tutorials, visit the Computer Science Education Week website at http://csedweek.org/learn.