What is it?
The Hour of Code is an attempt to teach people the basics of computer programming in 60 minutes in a fun, simple way. It is part of a campaign that Code.org, a non-profit organisation, launched in the US with the goal of introducing coding into the US curriculum and raising awareness around what coding is. It is now a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries.
Why are we doing it?
At Ekya, we believe in living the lesson. With Hour of Code, our parents get also a glimpse of how this is done. Across a week, the school hosts competitions for students as well as parents; our aim is to bust the myth of coding being difficult, by pairing parents with the students and helping them to program together. The pairs get one hour to finish the program with the help of our students. We also have students from Grades V to X participating in exciting coding competitions.
Primary school
The opening week of the event saw students from Grade I to IV, paired with their parents, code on simple languages such as Scratch, MS logo, Python and Tynker. Our parents seemed to enjoy the hour-long session of coding, typing away their code with ease, including those who were unfamiliar with the concept behind it. Our team of students were efficiently able to help and guide parents on each step. We asked a few parents for feedback and to our delight, they were all encouraging and motivating!
It was an exciting experience. I guess we all felt a bit nostalgic coming back to school and our computer labs. The students did an amazing job executing the entire event. Kudos to all of them.
~ Padmapriya Venkataraman, parent of Ashwat Venkataraman (IVC).
On 4th December, we were joined by parents of our Grade III students, who joined their children to code using MS Logo. They ended their session with the motivation to learn more about programming while printing interesting designs they coded.
I got the chance to meet the next-gen Einsteins! Great job by the kids.
~Niraj Milak, parent of Reyansh Milak (IIIA).
Meanwhile, parents of our Grade II students used easy coding blocks to guide dragons on the game ‘Dragon Dash’, using Tynker the new coding language.
I first coded during my engineering but now they (the Grade 2 students) are coding from such a young age which is brilliant. We had difficult languages like C and C++, I’m glad that easy coding is taught to the children. Great job to the team of students for navigating us throughout the session.
~Arunjet Taneja, parent of Anika Taneja (IIA).
The students of Grade I also coded with their parents on Tynker. They had an energetic session played the game ‘Candy Quest’ in which they had to guide the hungry monster to the candy.
I love coding even though I’m not from a tech background. Nowadays, kids only play games on the mobile phone. I’m happy that through Tynker they are learning the logic behind it. I’m thankful to the school for taking this initiative.
~ Ashvini R, parent of Kshamya Pradeep (IB).
Middle school
Students of Grades V – VII participated in the coding competitions, programming in simple languages such as Scratch, Python and HTML. Everybody was ecstatic and excited about their events. Students were divided into pairs and only one pair in each class could emerge as the winner. They participated wholeheartedly and made it tough for the judges to announce a winner. Here are a few scenes from their competitions:
High school
Our senior school students also had their share of coding competitions. Writing their programs in the languages of HTML and Java, they went through a preliminary round of coding, as students were paired roll number wise and each pair working on two programs. Being the fastest team was the qualifying criteria for the knockout stage, one which also decided the winner at the finals.
What’s in store?
We appreciate our kind parents for taking the time from their busy schedule to attend the first round of coding events. Now that the basic introduction to coding is done, we have some exciting events lined up on 9th December. We look forward to hosting our parents at the ‘Hour of Code’ finale which will be held on 9th, starting at 9 AM onwards. We have programs like skits and dance and quizzes and much more based on the central theme of coding, so don’t miss it!
