On Dec. 7, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer joined members of the Orlando Tech Association at Howard Middle School to kick off Computer Science Education Week with a special tutorial called Hour of Code. During Hour of Code, a global movement that seeks to introduce students to programming at an early age, at-risk middle school students learned the basics of computer science to nurture their creativity, logic and problem solving skills. It laid the foundation for success in a 21st-century career path while introducing students to leaders from Orlando’s technology industry.
More than 100 sessions took place through the week. Volunteers from the Orlando Tech Association led Hour of Code tutorials at Howard Middle School, Jackson Middle School, Memorial Middle School and Lee Middle School.
The University of Central Florida (UCF) hosted an Hour of Code event on Dec. 8 to celebrate opportunities for children with critical and terminal illness to learn to code. Assistant Professor of Mathematics Dr. Megan Nickels and members of her research team joined UCF School of Education students and children involved in the research to spread awareness of how accessibility to coding instruction can benefit the education and wellness of children who are facing adversity.