Kuato Studios has announced its plan to offer 100 hours of free ‘coding’ sessions to schools across the UK. In recognition of its latest robot combat game launch, ‘Hakitzu’, which helps students learn the basics of Javascript, the Kuato development team have devised a series of sessions for IT and Computer Science classes, aimed at helping to teach kids to code in a fun way.
Building on the successful US initiative Hour of Code, which encourages people of all ages to dedicate an hour of their time to learning coding basics, the Kuato ‘100 Hours of Code’ scheme is aimed at helping UK school pupils develop coding skills through engaging gameplay.
Coding is high on the UK education agenda with a shift towards including it on the curriculum coming into effect from September 2014. Ahead of this change, Kuato is urging IT teachers, and others from Primary and Secondary education, to register their interest in a class taster via the dedicated form, available here: https://bit.ly/100hoursofcode
The Kuato team consists of highly accomplished games developers – including ex-EA Konami and Sony staff – working alongside experienced educators to create unique titles that develop learning as their main focus. Hakitzu allows kids to battle robots using the concepts of a traditional video game while at the same time being shown the code behind each move, before being encouraged to take control by writing their own JavaScript.
The first session will take place on Monday 10th February at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney with a class of year 10 pupils. Mr Peter Hughes, Headteacher at Mossbourne, explained; “With the new Computer Science curriculum imminent, we are very keen to get our students excited about learning to programme. Many of them already have an interest in tech and most are casual gamers via their smartphones and tablets. By inviting Kuato in to run this session we are hoping to show the students how they can learn new skills while having fun.”
Chief Learning Architect at Kuato Studios and Pearson/Guardian Teacher of the Year, David Miller, added: “Our mission is to develop games that help students to learn in new and engaging ways. Learning to programme unlocks whole new spheres of creativity for young people. We wanted to create a fun way for school students to get involved in learning a new skill, one that could ultimately help them in future careers.’
The initiative is open to all middle and secondary schools across the UK as well as educational organisations. To register your interest in having the Kuato team come to your school or organisation please click here and complete the short form. You can also follow the initiative using the #100hoursofcode hashtag on Twitter.
