Microsoft brings Hour of Code Unplugged to schools across the island of Ireland

Microsoft Ireland is this week celebrating Computer Science Education Week by providing an Hour of Code virtually to approximately 9,000 primary school students across the island of Ireland, with students from every county, including for the first time every Gaeltacht region, taking part.

Hour of Code is an annual campaign held across the world by Code.org and this year it takes place between the 7th and 13th December. Despite current restrictions precluding Microsoft team members providing the Hour of Code sessions in person this year, over 100 employees will deliver virtual ‘Hour of Code Unplugged’ sessions in English and Irish through Microsoft Teams.

The unplugged sessions enable students to develop coding and computational thinking skills without the need for a device. Young people will be challenged to design their own creative technology solutions that will protect the planet and create a more sustainable world.

Extending the reach of this year’s campaign, Microsoft employees are delivering an Hour of Code across every county on the island of Ireland. Through the support of W5, who are partnering with Microsoft to develop and deliver DreamSpace Northern Ireland, students in the region will gain valuable insights into how technology can shape their world.

Cathriona Hallahan, Managing Director, Microsoft Ireland, said: “Over the course of 2020, the team at Microsoft Ireland has been finding new ways to engage with students and teachers across the country so they can continue to participate in digital skills experiences. Our virtual DreamSpace experience has brought STEAM education alive while DreamSpace TV has provided a new resource for STEAM learning.

“To support these efforts, we’re delighted to roll out Hour of Code this week to schools in every county and Gaeltacht region of Ireland. For the first time, we’re also expanding Hour of Code to Northern Ireland, giving young people the opportunity to gain a glimpse into the possibilities that technology can help unlock.

“Through Hour of Code, we’ve engaged 44,000 students over the last seven years and by taking a virtual approach to this year’s campaign, we can help ensure that even more young people – irrespective of their background or location – have the tools and skills to help shape our digital world.”

For students with devices, ‘plugged’ sessions have also been developed and the company is urging schools to get involved in these interactive Hour of Code sessions, which are available online. To download the Microsoft Ireland Hour of Code Plugged tutorial, log into the Microsoft Ireland YouTube channel or follow @MS_eduIRL on Twitter