Bring coding to students with ‘Hour of Code’ activities

<h2><em>Hour of Code<&sol;em> was launched in 2013 by Code&period;org&comma; a non-profit dedicated to expanding access to computer science and increasing participation by women and underrepresented minorities&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The program reaches millions of students through a one-hour introduction to coding and computer science&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The company added&colon; &&num;8220&semi;New this year&comma; Accenture Technology harnessed its internal expertise to create a coding tutorial that gives students a better understanding of artificial intelligence &lpar;AI&rpar;&period; Students will discover how various AI techniques can teach a robot to explore a new planet — including recognising animals and plants&comma; understanding a new language&comma; and conversing with inhabitants&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The <em>Hour of Code<&sol;em> campaign has already led to more than 450 million hours of code being completed– it’s mind-boggling&period; To date at least one out of every 10 students worldwide has participated in the <em>Hour of Code<&sol;em> program&comma;” said Hadi Partovi&comma; co-founder and CEO of Code&period;org&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This year&comma; we are asking for <&sol;span><span class&equals;"s2">people to not only do an hour of code&comma; but go beyond one hour and think about what they can do to ensure that computer science education continues for years to come&period;”<&sol;span><span class&equals;"s1"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Technology is creating jobs that didn’t even exist five years ago and learning to code can transform the trajectory of a student’s life and career&comma;” said Paul Daugherty&comma; Accenture’s chief technology and innovation officer and &OpenCurlyQuote;chief coder’&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;8042" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-8042" style&equals;"width&colon; 618px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"size-large wp-image-8042" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;12&sol;Image-1-1024x580&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"618" height&equals;"350" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-8042" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">A coding tutorial where a robot uses artificial intelligence to explore a new planet<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As part of our commitment to working with Code&period;org to prepare young people for the digital economy&comma; Accenture employees last year dedicated more than 10&comma;000 hours to <em>Hour of Code<&sol;em>&comma; inspiring more than 100&comma;000 students around the world to learn basic coding skills&period; We’ve seen the impact that Code&period;org is having on students and this year we’re doing more to support that — more hours and more classroom sessions to spark an interest in working with the technologies of tomorrow&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Accenture employees across 55 countries have pledged to complete more than 10&comma;000 hours of code and lead coding tutorial sessions around the world during Computer Science Education Week&comma; December 4-10&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The pledge is part of a commitment to helping students build computer and science&comma; technology&comma; engineering and math &lpar;STEM&rpar; skills&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;This year&comma; Accenture is leading with the talent and energy of our people&comma; pledging more than 2000 hours to lead or volunteer at local events in their communities&comma; joining forces with teachers and Code&period;org to help students learn coding and computer science skills&comma;&&num;8221&semi; the company said in a statement&period; This follows the recently announced pledge of US&dollar;10 million to support initiatives to expand STEM and computer science education through Internet Association&comma; a group that represents global internet companies on matters of public policy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 class&equals;"x&lowbar;MsoNormal">Among those taking part in New Zealand is Te Papa&comma; in Wellington&comma; with the following events&colon;<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"x&lowbar;MsoNormal"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-US">Tuesday 5<sup>th<&sol;sup> December&comma; 10am – 12 midday<&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"x&lowbar;MsoNormal"><span lang&equals;"EN-US">A class from Paraparaumu School will be in H&imacr;n&amacr;tore during this time and will be exploring the Hour of Code game as well as some of the technology in the space&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"x&lowbar;MsoNormal"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-US">Thursday 7<sup>th<&sol;sup> December &lpar;4-6pm&rpar; Coding for Teachers<&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"x&lowbar;MsoNormal"><span lang&equals;"EN-US">This session is planned to be hands-on with a range of coding applications including the Hour of Code app&period; The session will also include a short overview on the new digital technologies curriculum and computer science&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"x&lowbar;MsoNormal"><b><span lang&equals;"EN-US"> <&sol;span><&sol;b><b><span lang&equals;"EN-US">Saturday 9<sup>th<&sol;sup> December Coding for Everyone &lpar;10am-1pm&rpar;<&sol;span><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"x&lowbar;MsoNormal"><span lang&equals;"EN-US">Families will to arrive at any stage throughout the timeframe of 10am – 1pm&period;  Three stations are organised – one station with the Hour of Code game&comma; one station with an easy to programme robot and one station for coding your own memes&period;  Each station will have a facilitator ready to support and families will work around the stations&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s2">As part of this year’s <em>Hour of Code<&sol;em> collaboration&comma; Accenture executives will lead <em>Hour of Code<&sol;em> activities around the world&period; Among the executives participating are&colon;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul class&equals;"ul1">&NewLine;<li class&equals;"li5"><span class&equals;"s1">Yves Bernaert&comma; a senior managing director with Accenture Technology&comma; will host students at Station F&comma; a start-up incubator in Paris&period; <&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li class&equals;"li5"><span class&equals;"s1">Jo Deblaere&comma; Accenture’s chief operating officer&comma; will host students for an Hour of Code event at the Accenture office in Amsterdam&period; <&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li class&equals;"li5"><span class&equals;"s1">Ambe Tierro&comma; a senior managing director in the Philippines&comma; will host students at the Accenture Liquid Studio in Manila&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li class&equals;"li5"><span class&equals;"s1">Mohan Sekhar&comma; a senior managing director in the Accenture Technology Centers in India&comma; will host students at an Accenture office in Bangalore&period; <&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li class&equals;"li1"><span class&equals;"s1">Christy Sovereign&comma; Minneapolis office senior managing director&comma; will be participating in a special Hour of Code event working with Robbinsdale Cooper High School student athletes to learn about the future of technology and sports&comma; including a special session on how to build and fly a drone&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;

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