The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code", to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts. Check out the tutorials and activities. This grassroots campaign is supported by over 400 partners and 200,000 educators worldwide.
The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. The 2022 Computer Science Education Week will be October 1 - December 18, but you can host an Hour of Code all year-round. Computer Science Education Week is held annually in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906).
Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science. It helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. By starting early, students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path. See more stats here.
Start planning here by reviewing our how-to guide. You can organize an Hour of Code event at your school or in your community — like in an extracurricular club, non-profit or at work. Or, just try it yourself when Oct. 1 arrives.
The Hour of Code is organized by Code.org and driven by the Hour of Code Review Committee as well as an unprecedented coalition of partners that have come together to support the Hour of Code — including Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the College Board.
Of course. Hour of Code activities are self-guided. All you have to do is try our current tutorials, pick the tutorial you want, and pick an hour — we take care of the rest. We also have options for every age and experience-level, from kindergarten and up. Start planning your event by reading our how to guide.
Code.org tutorials work on all devices and browsers. You can see more information about Code.org's tutorial tech needs here. Tech needs for non-Code.org tutorials can be found on code.org/learn in the tutorial specific description. Don't forget we also offer unplugged activities if your school can't accommodate the tutorials!
No. We have Hour of Code tutorials that work on PCs, smartphones, tablets, and some that require no computer at all! You can join wherever you are, with whatever you have.
Here are a few options:
Anyone can organize an Hour of Code event, anywhere in the world. Last year, students worldwide joined together for the Hour of Code. Find out more here.
If you're interested in becoming a tutorial partner, see our guidelines and instructions. We'd like to host a variety of engaging options, but the primary goal is to optimize the experience for students and teachers who are new to computer science.
No. Absolutely no signup or login is required for students to try the Hour of Code. Most of the follow-on courses require account creation to save student progress. Also, signing up for the Hour of Code does NOT automatically create a Code Studio account. If you do want to create accounts for your students, please follow these instructions.
Go to our certificates page where you can print certificates for your entire class ahead of time. You can also print out special certificates for students doing the Minecraft tutorial.
Our Star Wars and Minecraft tutorials are great for high schoolers, especially the Star Wars JavaScript version and the free play level on both tutorials. Alternately, we recommend trying one of the beginner tutorials on code.org/learn to start, such as the tutorial with Angry Birds or with Anna and Elsa. A high school student should be able to finish one of these in 30 minutes and can then try a more advanced tutorial in JavaScript, such as Khan Academy or CodeHS.
We do not count unique student IDs perfectly when tracking participation in the Hour of Code. Why? Partly because we don't want the friction of prompting to “login / register” before a student or classroom tries learning for the first time, and partly because there are may activities we cannot track online. We do take certain steps to reduce double-counting, but without a login prompt, this can't work perfectly. At the same time, there are MANY student activities in the Hour of Code that aren't tracked at all. For example: (1) students who use a mobile/tablet app to try the Hour of Code are typically not counted (2) students who share a screen for pair-programming or group-programming may be counted as one (3) students trying an unplugged classroom activity cannot be counted online (4) teachers who create their own Hour of Code activities. As a result, there is some under-counting and some double-counting, and so we do not view the Hour of Code tracker to be an exact measure of usage. It is certainly directionally correct, and shows that many tens of millions of students have participated.
We're so sorry you aren't seeing your event on the Hour of Code map. Because of the tens of thousands of organizers who sign up, the map aggregates the data and displays one point for several events. If you click the events page link below the map you will be directed to a list of all events by state and can find your event listed there. Additionally, given the thousands of people signing up for the Hour of Code, the map and event list usually takes 48 hours to update. Check back in a few days!
The goal of the Hour of Code is not to teach anybody to become an expert computer scientist in one hour. One hour is only enough to learn that computer science is fun and creative, that it is accessible at all ages, for all students, regardless of background. The measure of success of this campaign is not in how much CS students learn - the success is reflected in broad participation across gender, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, and the resulting increase in enrollment and participation we see in CS courses at all grade levels. Millions of the participating teachers and students have decided to go beyond one hour - to learn for a whole day or a whole week or longer, and many students have decided to enroll in a whole course (or even a college major) as a result.
Besides the students, another "learner" is the educator who gains the confidence after one hour that they can teach computer science even though they may not have a college degree as a computer scientist. Tens of thousands of teachers decide to pursue computer science further, either attending PD or offering follow-on online courses, or both. And this applies to school administrators too, who realize that computer science is something their students want and their teachers are capable of.
Above all, what all participants can learn in an hour is that we can do this.
Anyone can host an Hour of Code at any time. The tutorials stay up year-round. You can expect all our tutorials and curriculum to be available on our site in perpetuity. Please go to our resources for event how-to guides and other resources to help make your Hour of Code event a success.