Free coding sessions at Apple stores near you

The Hour of Code is a worldwide movement encouraging kids to delve into the weird and wonderful world of coding. Apple stores were proud to announce recently that, for the 6th year, they will be hosting Hour of Code sessions at all stores worldwide, from December 1 to 14, to celebrate Computer Science Education Week.

What is the Hour of Code?

The Hour of Code is exactly that – an hour-long session that allows students to explore, or at the very least, have a go at coding. The initiative was created by code.org, which started in 2013. Code.org explains that the Hour of Code “started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify ‘code’, to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science”.

The Hour of Code occurs during Computer Science Education week, December 3 to 9, 2018 (this date is in recognition of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, born December 9, 1906).The Hour of Code has, like a scientist’s creation gone wrong, taken on a life of its own – fast becoming a global phenomenon. Students are learning in over 45 languages, and over 100M students have given it a go.

Go it alone or attend an event

Some students choose to go it alone and participate in the Hour of Code at a time and place convenient to them. As an article by Microsoft points out, “students of all ages can choose from a variety of self-guided tutorials, for kindergarten and up. Tutorials work on any modern browser, tablet, smartphone, or even with no computer at all.” Code.org itself offers heaps of online Hour of Code activities – from Minecraft and Star Wars tutorials to games related to Frozen, Ice Age, Angry Birds, and Plants vs. Zombies.

If you are a student, teacher or parent, you may like to organise your very own Hour of Code event – anywhere, anytime, no experience needed. The Hour of Code offers resources to help people to organise their event. So far, 168,151 events have been registered in 2018, in some 180 countries. Pretty impressive! As you may have gathered, students may simply choose to attend these events.

Apple opens their doors for the Hour of Code

Apple has also hopped onto the Hour of Code bandwagon for 2018. From December 1 to 14, free, daily coding sessions will be on offer at all Apple stores around the world.

According to the Apple Newsroom, “the sessions will provide opportunities for people at a variety of skill levels to learn coding. Kids Hour sessions will help aspiring coders aged six to 12 explore coding with robots, while those aged 12 and above can attend sessions using Swift Playgrounds and iPad to learn coding concepts.”

For locations and information about sessions, head over to this website to find an Apple store near you.

Want to be involved?

If you are a student and want to be involved in the Hour of Code, there are many ways you can be. You may like to visit an Apple store and see what’s going on there. You may like to seek out other events happening in your area. Or you may like to go it alone and use one of code.org’s amazing resources.