Valve's Newell promotes 'Hour of Code' learning campaign, EA gives games to participants
Non-profit computer science advocacy group CODE.org promotes its ongoing "Hour of Code" campaign by giving students an audience with Gabe Newell, managing director of Half-Life creator Valve Corporation. The full half-hour talk is archived for public viewing in the video above.
"Hour of Code" challenges students to spend an hour learning the basics of software coding, with CODE.org offering several online tutorials helping to jumpstart a career in the field of computer science. Over three million students have completed the organization's "Write your own computer program" tutorial, which is available in 20 languages and features characters from Rovio's Angry Birds and PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies throughout its lessons teaching the fundamentals of coding.
Electronic Arts announced this week that elementary and middle school students who complete CODE.org's 20-hour training course are eligible to receive a free PC game via Origin. Available games include Bejeweled 3, FIFA Soccer 13, SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition and Plants vs. Zombies.
