Code.org will teach you how to teach kids to code

Did you know that only one out of 10 schools in our nation offers computer science?

No matter how you slice it, that just ain’t right.

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We’ve been following Code.org for a while now; this group’s mission is to get more comp sci into more schools. Today, we’re delighted to announce that co-founders Hadi and Ali Partovi will be coming to DevBeat to talk about teaching kids about code.

DevBeat (ahem, get your tickets now) is our first-ever developer conference. For the inaugural show, the Code.org duo will discuss the current state of computer science education and how their organization is working to change policy to ensure that every student has access to CS. They will also talk about the national “Hour of Code” campaign and how they are encouraging 10 million students to learn the basics of coding.

And that’s just their main-stage talk. In our Master Class track, Code.org will be giving an hour-long class on code pedagogy. This class will walk attendees through basic coding tutorials that were designed to engage students of all ages. The goal of this class is to give attendees the tools to prepare our children to participate in the 21st century as technology creators, not just users.

More on Ali and Hadi themselves:

Ali Partovi, Co-Founder, Code.org
Based in San Francisco, Ali is an angel investor, startup advisor, and serial entrepreneur. Ali is also a co-founder of computer education non-profit Code.org, and an active investor in sustainable food systems.
Ali co-founded and sold two high-profile startups: iLike, acquired by MySpace in 2009, and LinkExchange, acquired by Microsoft for $265 million in 1998. His portfolio as an investor / advisor has included such successes as Zappos, Facebook, and DropBox, as well as newer ventures such as Viagogo and OPOWER (see complete Partovi portfolio). As a visionary, he was among the first people to see the potential of the Facebook Platform (in 2007), and among the earliest to grasp the business opportunity of search (in 1997). His current passion is sustainable food and agriculture, based on his articles Food is the New Frontier in Green Tech and Hacking the Food System: Focus on the Supply Chain, and related angel investments in Farmigo and BrightFarms, and serves on the board of school food non-profit FoodCorps.

Ali originally established himself as an entrepreneur by co-founding LinkExchange, which was acquired by Microsoft for $265 million in 1998. From 1998-2000, Ali worked at Microsoft and created “Keywords,” a pilot project to develop pay-for-placement, keyword-targeted text ads on alongside MSN Search results (essentially equivalent to Google AdWords, but many years earlier). Ali left Microsoft when the Keywords pilot program was shut down.

Hadi Partovi, Co-Founder & CEO, Code.org
Hadi is an entrepreneur and investor, and also co-founder of education non-profit Code.org. As an entrepreneur, he was on the founding teams of Tellme and iLike. As an angel investor and startup advisor, Hadi’s portfolio includes Facebook, Zappos, Dropbox, OPOWER, Flixster, Bluekai, and many others.

A graduate of Harvard University, Hadi began his career during the browser wars in the 1990s, when he was Microsoft’s Group Program Manager for Internet Explorer. After the release of IE 5.0, Hadi co-founded Tellme Networks. Tellme was acquired by Microsoft for a reported $800 million. Hadi was General Manager of MSN.com during MSN’s only year of profit, where he delivered 30% annual growth and incubated Start.com (now Live.com).
After leaving Microsoft a second time, Hadi co-founded iLike with twin brother Ali Partovi, and together they built the leading music application on the Facebook platform. In 2009, iLike was acquired by MySpace where both Partovis worked as Senior Vice Presidents.

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Hadi is a strategic advisor to numerous startups including Facebook, Dropbox, OPOWER, and Bluekai, and serves on the board of TASER International. He is also an active angel investor with a wide range of investments.

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