On December 8, 9, and 10, Xavier students had the opportunity to attend several Hour of Code sessions, opening them up to the world of computer programming. Each session was one hour in length, and introduced students to computer science and the basics of coding.
“It is important to do the Hour of Code because computer programming is not a part of our traditional curriculum,” math teacher Mrs. Barb Miltner said. “It’s not a course that we offer at Xavier.” While Xavier students can take a computer science course through Kirkwood, the Hour of Code is special because it is led by Xavier teachers Mrs. Miltner and Mr. Tim O’Brien.
The Hour of Code offers a variety of activities for students to participate in, some of which could be done on the iPad. The major theme for many of the activities this year was Star Wars. The sessions also provided students with the opportunity to learn how to program robots, with the help of Grant Wood AEA.
The sessions were informal and the students were not graded or tested. Students were allowed to pick the activities they wanted to participate in based on their skill level. In this way, they could attend the sessions with no previous skill and still find something to do. On the contrary, if a student was already proficient in computer programming or had already taken a computer science course, they could still attend the session and find a way to participate. Activities were available for all levels of skill.
“Technology is the future,” Mrs. Miltner said. “It’s everywhere. You will have a better shot at STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) jobs if you have some computer science skills.” The Hour of Code gave students the opportunity to begin developing these skills.