Hour of Code

"The Hour of Code is designed to demystify code and show that computer science is not rocket science—anybody can learn the basics," said Hadi Partovi, founder and CEO of Code.org. "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."

Want your students to join the movement? Here is a list of free Code.org tools, resources and sources of inspiration to help you get started:

Hour of Code. Commit to one hour of computer science this December during Computer Science Education Week and register your class for this popular event.

Code Studio. Use the four 20-hour online Computer Science Foundations courses as free, ready-made curriculum designed to give K-12 students a foundation in CS principles and programming, beginning with early readers and expanding through high school. The coursework encourages students to work in pairs, communicating and collaborating to solve puzzles and complete tasks.

The curriculum integrates unplugged activities requiring no computers to develop computational thinking and hands-on, minds-on activities to learn vocabulary terms, such as “algorithm,” in context. You can even try out an accelerated teaser version to preview what your students would learn.

CS in Algebra and CS in Science courses. These online courses for middle schoolers are formatted like video games — what’s cooler than that? — built on a block-based version of Bootstrap. CS in Algebra features 20 lessons with videos and other support materials that explore both algebraic concepts, such as defining variables, and geometric concepts, such as the coordinate plane. CS in Science, the result of a partnership between Code.org and Project GUTS (Growing Up Thinking Scientifically), aims to integrate CS practices into the science classroom through modeling and simulation. You can even get free professional development to teach this curriculum.

Exploring Computer Science course. High school educators should check out this course meant to broaden participation in computer science. The course's video and curriculum banks continue to grow, and it is designed to match the College Board’s newly proposed Advanced Placement course, AP Computer Science Principles. Check out the PD opportunities for teaching this course and stay tuned for Code.org’s new Computer Science Principlescourse.

Face-to-face workshops. Don’t feel comfortable diving into teaching CS without some training? K-5 educators and middle school teachers just starting out with CS can attend free, one-day professional development workshops led by one of Code.org’s 150 trained facilitators. These are high-quality, engaging workshops designed to help teachers bring computer science to their own classrooms. You’ll take home a printed curriculum guide, materials to teach the unplugged activities and fun Code.org swag! Search the site for workshops in your area or reach out to your local affiliate.

Code.org forum. All educators can become a part of this professional learning community. Get ready to ask questions, share insights and be inspired to grow as a CS educator.

Social media. Follow Code.org on Twitter @TeachCode and tumblr to get tips, updates and opportunities to network with other passionate CS educators.

Community meetups. Register for one of Code.org's free monthly meetups for teachers. Check the schedule to find out when meetups for Exploring Computer Science, CS in Algebra, CS in Science and more happen.