Students Learn Computer Code

MEDB News Release

STEMworks™ students across the state are learning to write computer code as part of a nationwide campaign embraced by President Obama and featuring free tutorials designed to get students interested in computer science. Molokai Middle and High schools are two of 13 schools participating statewide.

The Hour of Code is an initiative developed by Code.org to spark interest among young people across the U.S. and help address the increasing demand for computer programmers in many fields.

According to Code.org, the number of computer programming jobs is growing at a rate twice the national average of computer science students. That means by the year 2020, there are expected to be 1.4 million computing jobs, but just 400,000 computer science students to fill those positions.

Even if students don’t intend to grow up to be computer programmers, advocates say learning code can help them succeed in a broad range of skills – most importantly, the ability to think.

For more information or to sign up for an Hour of Code tutorial, go to code.org.

STEMworks™ is a multi-faceted, hands-on program spearheaded in high schools throughout Hawaii by Maui Economic Development Board’s (MEDB) Women in Technology project.  Using an innovative curriculum, students use the most current, high-end technologies in real-world, community service learning projects.