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  Hour Of Code has been renamed. This year and from now on it will be called "Hour Of AI", giving in to this AI-dictated era. Another indication that coding has shifted from a task of manual labor to one of automated generation. Code.org is a trend setter and crucial to kids' education relating to Computer Science, so the rebranding is highly significant. https://www.i-programmer.info/news/150-training-a-education/18502-hour-of-ai-2025-about-to-start.html

  This year the event that aims to provide a coding experience for all school students and anyone else who wants to join in runs between December 9th and 15th and includes new activities. Let's find out all about it! https://www.i-programmer.info/news/150-training-a-education/17664-hour-of-code-2024-is-about-to-kick-off.html

  Is writing a Kernel module in Scratch, the block-based programming language used primarily by kids, possible? Absurd it may be, but yes, it is absolutely possible! Scratch is the original block-based programming language and still the best known and most widely used. It was invented in 2003 at MIT to make kids' introduction to coding a much smoother experience. That said, the educational value of block versus regular text based languages is highly debated with strong arguments on either side. I encountered the case made for using text-based languages opinion when  reviewing CodeGuppy , a platform that teaches kids (and teens and "creative adults") to code by writing Javascript.  full article on i-programmer: https://www.i-programmer.info/news/98-languages/15567-scratch-can-even-do-linux-kernel.html

  Blackbird, an integrated learning platform featuring a custom version of JavaScript, specifically designed for use with middle school and high school students, has just joined the Google Cloud Partner Advantage Program. As a result Blackbird now integrates with Google products like Google Sign In, Google Classroom, Chromebooks, and is listed in the Google Cloud Partner Directory, bringing it to a much wider audience. So what can educators expect from Blackbird? full article on i-programmer.info

  The Raspberry Pi Foundation has partnered with the Oak National Academy to turn the content of England’s National Computing Curriculum into more than 300 curriculum-mapped videos and made them available for free. The so-called Teach Computing Curriculum funded by England's Department of Education was online and in place pre-Covid, hosting computing classroom material for Key Stages 1 to 4 (learners aged 5 to 16). Despite targeting England’s schools, the curriculum has been available to anyone across the world and for free. Due to the pandemic and schools closing, all the curriculum's lesson have been turned into videos, 300 in total, amounting to over 100 hours, so that kids can continue to learn computing at home. full article article i-programmer.info

  Although targeted at kids, this extension to Microsoft's learning paths teaching Python programming inspired by NASA scientists, is recommended for anyone who wants a novel way into coding and machine learning.  Last summer Microsoft Learn and NASA partnered up to teach Python programming applied to Space exploration. Now they've added three new modules this time inspired by the Netflix's animation film "Over the Moon". full article on i-programmer

  It's the time of year when the world-class Hour of Code once more commences; just an hour to  introduce coding to the uninitiated. This is not just an article about Code.org alone, but a wider look at its emphasis on AI for a new generation. Integrated into the larger worldwide annual Computer Science Education week, this year it takes place from December 7 to 11.Hour of Code's novel mission has always been to get everybody coding, aged from 4 to 104, by providing: A one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code, showing that anybody can learn the basics, and broadening participation in the field of computer science. It tries to spread this kind of excitement to the widest audience possible by empowering anyone who wants to, to register and set up such an event as well as to publicize it on the Hour of Code website in order to make it available to anyone regardless race, sex, age or state.The next step is to go through one of the many Hour of Code tut...

  Google's intuitive learn-to code-platform, Grasshopper has added a Gallery feature, the idea of which is to promote sharing of  projects and to showcase your code.   Grasshopper, named to honor Grace Hopper, is already a familiar friend of the I Programmer team. Back in 2018, we witnessed its early beginnings when it went public having been an internal tool at Google, see  Grasshopper - An Area 120 App To Teach Coding " The initial release was for Android and IOs and, of course, coding on a mobile device is not the most intuitive thing to do. Thus in 2019 a version for the desktop was released, which we described in  Grasshopper Now On the Desktop  - although rather than installing software , "desktop" means that it runs inside the browser. full article on i-programmer

Code.org expands beyond teaching the concepts of coding. It moves on to artificial intelligence, AI. Computer Science Education Week starts today and with it Hour of Code events in schools around the world. Teaching coding isn't enough any longer! Kids should also be taught the concepts of AI at the same time! As we've examined in " Artificial Intelligence for K-12 " things evolve rapidly and familiarization with AI from school age is the new norm among the tech education industry: full article on i-programmer

The AI for K-12 Initiative wants to kick-start the discussion on how to incorporate learning about AI in the United States school curriculum, ultimately leading to national guidelines.  The AI for K12 working group led by Professor David Touretzky, an AI researcher at Carnegie Mellon University was announced a year ago by the AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, formerly the American Association for Artificial Intelligence). The project is in collaboration with the Computer Science Teachers Association and AI4All, a nonprofit that works to increase diversity and inclusion in artificial intelligence.  full article on i-programmer.info

Endless is a Linux distribution that comes with all the usual office and entertainment apps. It also includes a range of games involving visual coding with blocks or JavaScript, designed to kick-start kids into coding. Version 3.5.8 of the distribution comes with the following games, some employing visual block-based coding and others being text-based full article on i-programmer

Codeguppy, unlike other introductory platforms such as Scratch which use visual block-based languages, aims to teach kids (and teens and "creative adults" to code by writing Javascript. Why is that better? full article on i-programmer