Computer Science Education Week
By Ballyclare High School on 7 December, 2018
Ballyclare High School joins mission to introduce students to Computer Science
That’s why every one of the P6 Ballyclare Primary School and P6 Fairview Primary School students came to Ballyclare High School on Friday 7th December for the largest learning event in history: The Hour of Code, during Computer Science Education Week (December 3rd-9th 2018).
Computers are everywhere, changing every industry on the planet, but fewer than half of all schools teach computer science. Girls and minorities are severely under-represented in computer science classes, and in the tech industry. Good news is, Ballyclare High School and tech giants Liberty IT are on the way to change this.
The Hour of Code, organized by the non-profit Code.org and over 100 others, is a global movement that believes the students of today are ready to learn critical skills for 21st-century success. With the Hour of Code, computer science has been on homepages of Google, MSN, Yahoo!, and Disney. Over 100 partners have joined together to support this movement. Every Apple Store in the world has hosted an Hour of Code. Even President Obama wrote his first line of code as part of the campaign a few years back.
Mr Gareth Shaw, ICT Strategy Leader in Ballyclare High School stated “The Hour of Code is designed to de-mystify code and show that computer science is not rocket science—anybody can learn the basics, over 100 million students worldwide have tried an Hour of Code. The demand for relevant 21st-century computer science education crosses all borders and knows no boundaries.” He continued by saying that “At Ballyclare High School we see the importance of these 21st century skills and teaming up with Liberty IT helps our future students see the real opportunities in Northern Ireland in this line of work”.
Code.org is a public non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science and increasing participation by women and under-represented students of colour. Its vision is that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer programming. After launching in 2013, Code.org organized the Hour of Code campaign – which has introduced over 100 million students to computer science to date – and partnered with 70 public school districts nationwide to expand computer science programs. Code.org is supported by philanthropic donations from corporations, foundations and generous individuals, including Microsoft, Facebook, Infosys Foundation USA, Amazon, and others.
Find more resources and information on https://hourofcode.com/uk
