While the number of public schools teaching computer science in the United States has grown in recent years, the majority lack programs in this crucial subject, according to a recent survey by Google LLC and Gallup. Finding ways to extend computer science education to more students takes on a unique and specialized spin at Code.org.

Awarded last week at CloudNOW Top 10 Women in Cloud Innovation Awards presented at Google Campus in Mountain View, California, President of Code.org Alice Steinglass (pictured) was honored for her work in driving progress for women in tech.

Code.org is a non-profit organization with a stated goal of making sure every student has the opportunity to learn computer science. Its unique approach to computer science education includes hands-on exercises that help get students excited about the possibilities of computer science, especially among high school girls and diverse communities. 

“We’re focused on equity and diversity. I was surprised to learn that most schools today don’t teach Computer Science. … This unfairly affects students of color, students in poor schools; they even have less of that opportunity today,” Steinglass said.

Steinglass spoke with Lisa Martin (@LuccaZara), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio. They discussed the impact Code.org is having on the future of computer science, including women in tech, at CloudNOW’s 6th Annual Top 10 Women in Cloud Innovation Awards.

Expanding Computer Science Education

One aspect of Code.org’s approach to computer science education is called Hour of Code in which students actually try computer science exercises to see if they find it enjoyable. The organization measures affinity to computer science before and after the exercises and found high school girls had the biggest impact.

“They had this impression that computer science wasn’t for them. But then after trying it, they said, ‘Oh, you know what? It’s not about sitting around and coding the Fibonacci series.’ You can do that with code, but you can also make apps, and you can design websites. And you can create things that have this creativity aspect,” Steinglass said.

Code.org is a global organization with more than 50 percent of its accounts coming from around the world in countries like Italy and Mexico. There is still plenty of opportunity for improving computer science education domestically as well, with 25 percent of its students based in the U.S., according to Steinglass.

“You don’t have to go far away; we’re partnered with the Oakland School District, which is right here. And we’re partnered with San Francisco. All sorts of schools right here in America don’t have that opportunity,” Steinglass concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the CloudNOW 6th Annual Top 10 Women in Cloud Innovation Awards.

Photo: SiliconANGLE