Code.org launches crowdfunding campaign to bring ‘Hour of Code’ to 100 million students

Code.org, a nonprofit that wants to make computer science widely available in schools, has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to bring its ‘Hour of Code‘ to 100 million students.

The organisers are looking for $5 million before December 14 – when Computer Science Education Week comes to a close – to train 10,000 computer science teachers and deliver the courses to as many learners as possible.

In addition, an array of Code.org donors including Microsoft, Google, Bill Gates and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman have agreed to match donations up to $2.5 million. The gesture could give the campaign a significant boost, although it’s worth noting the “flexible funding” setup, which means it could end up above or below that amount. Code.org will take the final donation total (minus Indiegogo’s cut) and donors will price-match up to $2.5 million regardless.

As the name implies, Hour of Code aims to teach students everywhere about computer science for at least 60 minutes each year. It’s not the deep-rooted change needed to fix educational curriculums around the world, but it’s an admirable gesture that will at least expose young people to the subject.

Code.org says there were 4,774 Hour of Code events last year, which taught 15 million students around the world. Let’s see if they can top that.

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