You may have seen the video where Bill, Mark, Jack and others tout the value of learning computer programming. The video is a call to get more students to code and more teachers to offer coding classes in schools.
Bill in this case, is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Mark is Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The two tech titans appear in a Code.org video calling for the proliferation of coding classes in schools. They are joined by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Dropbox Co-Founder and CEO Drew Houston and Chris Bosh of the NBA’s Miami Heat, among others.
Recording artist Will.i.am, one of the most vocal celebrities promoting increased science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, is in the video as well. He calls coders, “today’s rock stars.”
“I’ve collaborated with just about every big name in the music industry. Are those names bigger than Zuckerberg, Gates or Dorsey? Who is next? What student is out there right now who will create the next big thing? The thing that will revolutionize the world - again,” the artist told The Post via a spokesperson Wednesday. “He or she probably won’t be a musician – but she will be proficient in code.”
Within a year, Will.i.am said the goal is to have every student in the country “[understand] the value of computer code and every school teaching code writing.”
But what about teaching code to those no longer in school?
Apple announced Thursday that downloads for its iTunes U courses have passed the 1 billion mark with courses offered by Stanford University, a talent pipeline to Silicon Valley, reaching 60 million downloads alone. But over 60 percent of the downloads, according to the company, are from outside the United States.
Perhaps another video is in order for the nation’s older set, a call to go on a learn-to-code adventure of their own. After all, the sequester — and its expected job cuts — are due tomorrow.
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