Do the Hour of Code with Salesforce in Germany

Author: Petra Kah, Director, Customers For Life, Salesforce Germany GmbH

How can we inspire more WOMEN to learn Computer Science?

All young people should have the opportunity to learn computer science. These kids are using technology 24/7 (Internet, iPhone, TV…), but how many are learning to develop it? Every student today should be able to learn computer science, yet fewer schools teach computer science than 10 years ago. The basics of this discipline help nurture creativity and problem-solving skills, and prepare students for any future career.

Hour of Code

The “Hour of Code” is a global movement that reaches tens of millions of students in 180+ countries, and is focused on girls and young people who are underrepresented or do not have the chance to try computer science. The initiative is designed to demystify computer science and coding and show that anybody can learn the basics. The statistics talk for themselves – Hour of Code was the fastest growing of such initiative, reaching 15 million students in one week. Around the world students were learning how to code and more girls tried computer science in that week compared to the last 70 years.

Within the ‘hour’ and guided by Online Tutorials, young people can easily create their own code, per drag & drop. The code controls pawns in a game to solve different tasks. No experience is needed prior to it. The primary goal is that the young people have fun while coding and are enthusiastic to follow up on this and further engage in it during their future career planning.

Salesforce supports this initiative in several countries and is also strongly committed to increasing female engagement. In many departments, Salesforce has already a high proportion of females and knows that a balanced ratio of males to females in a business environment helps to make companies more successful.

Hour of Code – Salesforce Munich

At our local Salesforce office in Munich, especially the females working in computer science are excited to extend the Hour of Code in German schools. We want to emphasize how important it is for us to build a deeper relationship with regional schools, in order to create the momentum for sustainable success until entrance in professional life. As successful women in computer science, we want to give this back and lead by example for the girls.

We conducted our first Hour of Code event with Salesforce employees and their children, inviting them and their parents to our office. The enthusiasm in advance was great – the children were particularly excited to have a closer look at Mammy and Daddy’s workplace!

Roughly 20 children, both boys and girls from 5 up to 15 years, participated in the event. Even the youngest children quickly recognized how easy it is to write code, even when they could not write on paper yet.

The excitement of the kids and parents was great and the feed-back phenomenal. The parents even want to reach out to their local schools to support the Hour of Code.

During our pilot in Munich Office we recognized that the age of the kids between 8 and 12 (school class 3-7) seems to be most appropriate for the initiative. The younger ones needed more time to get the exercises done, and the older ones needed half the time and so some got bored.

Partnering with Schools in Germany

We would like to address our local schools to support the Hour of Code to benefit their students. This is a great way to introduce them to computer science and widen their opportunities when planning their future careers. You simply need a computer room with internet access at your school. The students can be put together in smaller groups to work as a team when solving the exercises. That means minimal effort in advance for the schools with a huge positive effect for the students and their future careers.

Help grow this international campaign bringing the Hour of Code initiative into your school. Start modernizing your school’s curriculum.

Interested in partnering with Salesforce Germany on this initiative? Contact Laura Saier ([email protected]), Product Program Manager, Salesforce.org.

Read more about Hour of Code in Germany: http://hourofcode.com/de.