Google’s Made with Code initiative encourages young girls to learn coding
Interactive activities, creator profiles, and a directory of local resources kick off the campaign
As technology begins to inform and enhance nearly every aspect of our lives, coding has begun to seem like an essential tool for younger generations—and Google wants to make sure young girls are just as interested in learning.
The company’s new Made with Code initiative launched today with a website featuring an array of interactive activities, which use very basic and accessible Blockly code to allow users to, say, create a bracelet and have it 3D printed, or learn how to make animated gifs.
While simple activities, they’re meant to foster curiosity about coding and technology that can grow into a deeper investigation of coding languages. And Google is happy to help with that, too, thanks to a directory that lets you input your location and find nearby classes and resources to take the next steps if desired.
Google’s site also highlights a series of mentors, who are notable professionals—like Pixar’s director of photography, Danielle Feinberg, and video game designer Robin Hunicke (Journey)—that have built careers upon coding, plus there are profiles on younger creators separately designated as “makers.”
Less than 1% of high school girls expressed an interest in majoring in computer science in college, according to the 2013 study cited in Google’s post on the campaign, and the dire gender balance in the overwhelmingly male-dominated tech startup sector sadly bears that out. It’s encouraging to see a giant in the industry point out ways that code impacts all of us, regardless of gender—and how all of us can in turn use it to impact the world.
[Source: Official Google Blog]
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Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 