REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 15, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. and Code.org on Tuesday unveiled the Minecraft Hour of Code Designer, a coding tutorial for students and educators created for Hour of Code , an annual, global campaign held during Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 5 – 11. The new web-based tutorial — available for free at http://code.org/minecraft — enables beginner coders to create and share their own simple “Minecraft” game, and is designed to empower anyone to begin learning the problem-solving and critical thinking skills required in today’s tech-fueled world.
Created by “Minecraft” game designers at Mojang and Microsoft, in partnership with Code.org, the fun and easy-to-learn one-hour experience builds on the success of last year’s record-breaking “Minecraft” tutorial, which reached more than 30 million students worldwide. With the goal of inspiring millions more to try coding for the first time — and to keep going on their journey of learning computer science — as of today’s launch, the tutorial is available in 10 languages, including Spanish. It is scheduled to be available in 50 languages by Dec. 5.
With the immense popularity of “Minecraft” around the world, Microsoft and Code.org believe the tutorial has the potential to reach people of all ages and likeness. Women and girls already compose nearly half of the game’s global fan base. The tutorial also underscores Microsoft’s commitment to ensuring all young people have the opportunity to learn computer science, an economic and social imperative in this era of digital transformation, which is expected to generate 1.4 million computing jobs in the U. S. alone by 2020 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the U. S., 40 percent of schools do not teach computer science, and Microsoft aims to reach students most likely to be among those without access, particularly girls and minorities.
“We are partnering with Code.org again this year to make computer science more accessible to millions of youth around the world with ‘Minecraft’ and Hour of Code,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “I am inspired by the ‘Minecraft’ generation who view themselves not as players of a game, but as creators of the new worlds they dream up. This is the generation that will imagine, build and create our future, and together we can equip them with the computational thinking and problem-solving skills to seize the opportunities ahead.
