It's time to code!

The annual International Hour of Code event is back as an activity to familiarize students with computer science.

" One hour of code Is an opportunity to introduce young people to computer sciences. This event, which takes place all over the planet, takes place during the Computer Science Week, which takes place from December 7 to 13.

As part of this activity, the students are called upon to use video games in order to develop their skills and their interests in computer coding. Educational scenarios are offered to young people, teachers and various stakeholders in the education sector.

By facilitating the participation of as many people as possible, the non-profit organization behind this initiative, Coded, and its partners have identified a series of software well accompanied by tutorials and educational scenarios. For example, among the tools put forward, software allows students to program a set of Star wars. The very famous  Minecraft is also in the list, which includes various software and applications, ranging from Codecombat at angry Birds, through the Snow Queen and Scratch. Although several scenarios are intended for elementary school students, some are intended for secondary school students.

Activities do not necessarily have to take place in a formal school setting. For example, parents and various school stakeholders can get involved in a personal capacity. People engaging in the spirit of the event, however, are invited to mention their participation on the official site, with a view to outreach, visibility and awareness. At the time of this writing, more than 4,000 activities taking place in Canada have been recorded.

In the same spirit, it is definitely possible to develop your own educational scenario and to carry out an activity aimed at initiation to code outside the event. One hour of code is primarily intended as a framed pretext to raise awareness of the importance of coding. This initiative is part of a global movement to use computer science and video games to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to young people. Near us, the current project Codex, from Ubisoft, is an example.