Non-profit Code.org has brought together some of the biggest names in both technology and politics to teach the next generation the basics of programming, and hopefully entice more students to consider computer science-based careers.

Code.org wants to change the general attitude that the United States holds of coding. Only one in ten schools in the U.S. offer Computer Science classes, and many of these are electives rather than credit-based, and so there is little to entice students to pursue the subject as part of a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) career. The non-profit has been campaigning for this to change in order to make sure the next generation are trained in these areas, and the "Hour of Code" promotion is designed to improve awareness around the issue -- as well as provide basic instruction for interested students of any age.

During this week, Code.org is asking teachers to dedicate one hour to educating students on programming as part of the Computer Science Education Week, running from December 9th to the 15th.

The organisation's push offers students the chance to use free tutorials to learn the basics of coding. Tutorials have been contributed by well-known faces including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, puzzles teach basic algorithms featuring games such as Angry Birds suitable for young learners, and Python, JavaScript and mobile applications have not been ignored.

More here Via ZDNet