Made with Code

Made with Code is an initiative launched by Google on 19 July 2014. Google aimed to empower young women in middle and high schools with computer programming skills. Made with Code was created after Google's own research found out that encouragement and exposure are the critical factors that would influence young females to pursue computer science. It was reported that Google is funding $50 million to Made with Code, on top of the initial $40 million invested since 2010 in organizations like Code.org, Black Girls Code, and Girls Who Code. The Made with Code initiative involves both online activities as well as real life events, collaborating with notable firms like Shapeways and App Inventor.

Projects

Made with Code revolves primarily around providing online activities for young girls to learn coding on its website. Many of Made with Code's projects use Blockly programming, a visual editor that writes programs by assembling individual blocks. Step by step instructions are provided to guide users. Along the way, works may either be discarded or saved and downloaded.

Dance Visualiser

Dance Visualiser mixes dance with code by modelling a visualiser that mirrors a dancer's motions. Through the application of Blockly programming, users track the different parts such as the head, chest, hip and four limbs of the dancer's body. After inputting the necessary details, a customized visualization is generated accordingly.

Music Mixer

In Music Mixer, users manipulate the number of notes and set the speed of each instrument to produce a colorful rotating visual music mixer. The range of instruments that are available include Acapella, Country, Electronic, HipHop, Pop and Rock.

Beats

Beats connects Blockly programming language and virtual instruments together to produce a string of beats. Users set the speed from a minimum of 30 to a maximum of 300 beats. The range of virtual instruments available include hi-hat, clave, cowbell, cymbal, tom, kick, snare and clap.

Avatar

Project Avatar allows users to customize their own avatar. Through Blockly programming language, users input different shapes on a virtual 2D work space, then arrange the shapes into a 3D avatar.

Accessorizer

Accessorizer allow to accessorize to allow girls to create their own customised bracelet. After designing the bracelet with Blockly, Shapeways prints the bracelets using nylon plastic on their 3D EOS printers.

Mentors and makers

Made with Code website features videos of mentors, who are females in different industries who have used computer coding in their career, and makers, who are young females who have made a difference in society using their coding skills. Some of the mentors and makers were also invited to hold talks such as during Made with Code's kick off event in New York City. Over 100 teenage girls from local organizations and public schools worked on coding projects and witnessed first-hand how women use code in their dream jobs.

List of mentors

* Ayah Bdeir
* Danielle Feinberg
* Erica Kochi
* Limor Fried
* Miral Kotb
* Robin Hunicke

List of makers

* Brittany Wenger
* Kenzie Wilson
* Maddy Maxey
* EPA Chica Squad
* Tesca Fitzgerald
* Ebony "WondaGurl" Oshunrinde

Events

Made with Code website has a resource directory for parents and girls to enter their ZIP code and find more information about new local events.

92nd annual White House Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Made with Code partnered with National Park Foundation to organised a campaign in 2014 to light up 56 official White House Christmas trees in President's Park. More than 300,000 people, mostly young girls, participated and programmed the designs of the lights on the trees through selecting different shapes, sizes, and colors of the lights, and animate different patterns using introductory programming language.

Others

Partnership with Code School

Made with Code has partnered with Code School in June 2014 and provided three-month free accounts in Code School for women and minorities already in the technology industry to expand their skills. This initiative widened Made with Code's target group to also include those who have already started a career in the tech industry, in addition to the initial target group of young without prior coding experience.

Google raise gender diversity in Code School by giving $50 million over three years to provide for related programs. They concurrently work with DonorsChoose.org and Codecademy or Khan Academy for the trial of a project. They also collaborated with the Science and Entertainment Exchange.

References

External links

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{{Google Inc.

2014 establishments in California
Computer science education
Google