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Students Practice Computer Programming as Part of Worldwide “Hour of Code”

 
When it comes to video games and apps, kids quickly pick up how to play with little idea of the computer programming that makes them work.

Hillers explored the coding behind the action last week by participating in the “Hour of Code,” a worldwide effort to expose kids to computer science. Organized by the non-profit code.org, millions of students around the globe spent an hour coding in celebration of Computer Science Education Week.

“The whole purpose is to get kids interested,” said Meghan Donlon, Tower Hill’s director of academic technology. 

Students logged onto hourofcode.com, chose an interactive tutorial and used a drag-and-drop interface to create lines of code. The resulting program behaved differently depending on the variables and sequence selected. The emphasis was on fun, intuitive activities that introduce coding concepts and encourage greater interest—especially among girls and students of color—in programming down the road. 

In Donlon’s Middle School computer class, 5th graders put their spreadsheet projects on hold to create Flappy Bird games line by line. The room was humming with chatter as they wrote lines of code, worked together to troubleshoot glitches and progressed through the programs. 

“Look how excited they are,” Donlon said. “I’m glad they are into it.” 

In the Lower School, teacher Deb Stuebing’s 4th graders worked on Angry Birds programs and created elaborate snowflake patterns with the Elsa and Anna characters from Frozen. Stuebing was inspired to integrate the Hour of Code into her classwork for computer class after students learned schematics for circuits, pointing out that the smartphones and tablets children use in everyday life rely on the technology. 

“This is where it starts,” she said.
 
The activity also uses both creativity and logical thinking skills, she said. Later in the school year, 3rd and 4th graders learn more complex computer coding as part of Tower Hill’s curriculum—and even 1st and 2nd graders code with basic programs in their computer curriculum. 

In the Upper School, Lista Lincoln’s Digital Game Design class finished the Hour of Code, plus a 20-hour follow-up program. Currently they are making their own games, incorporating the skills acquired. 

Donlon’s Middle Schoolers will also do the 20-hour follow-up activities in coming months. At the end of the students’ first session last week, which seemed to fly by, a few girls asked if they could log in from home to keep working. 

“Absolutely,” she told them. “I want you to keep practicing.” 
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