Geek Beat: Hour of Code

It’s Computer Science Education Week! This international celebration of computers and technology and STEM education brings a lot of great events to schools around the world, and in Hawaii.

One of the keystone events of CSEd Week is the “Hour of Code,” which aims to expose every student to computer programming for at least 60 minutes. There were more than 160 events scheduled in Hawaii. The company I work for, Hawaii Information Service, was invited to Kapunahala Elementary in Kaneohe to work with more than two dozen students, working with free online tutorials from Code.org.

The focus on software development also allowed us to again feature DevLeague, an intensive local coding bootcamp. Graduates come out of the program ready for programming jobs, and DevLeague works hard to place them in local companies. (Hawaii Information Services just hired one!) There’s even a “Junior DevLeague” program that extends the pipeline into schools to reach younger students.

Finally, we touch on ways to learn programming at home, on your own, provided you have the discipline to stick with it. They include Codecademy, the Khan Academy, and Free Code Camp.