President Obama, Celebrities, Come Out to Promote Computer Science

The President supports the "Hour of Code" learning event, which aims to reach 5 million students in 33,000 classrooms

  • Share
  • Read Later

Like TIME on Facebook for more breaking news and current events from around the globe!

Youtube

“Don’t just buy a new video game. Make one.”

That’s the message President Barack Obama is sending to students across America — learn computer science and get involved in creating the next big thing in technology.

The President, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and a dozen other celebrities are supporting the “Hour of Code” learning event organized by Code.org. “Hour of Code” aims to teach computer science basics to 5 million students in 33,000 classrooms during Computer Science Education Week.

(MORETraffic Didn’t Crash the Obamacare Site Alone. Bad Coding Did Too)

Celebrities like Shakira, Ashton Kutcher, Angela Bassett and Warren Sapp joined tech giants Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg to deliver the message that anyone can learn to code:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC5FbmsH4fw]

Meanwhile, Obama talked about the importance of computer science for the future of innovation:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XvmhE1J9PY]

Computer Science Education Week runs from Dec. 9-15. On Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 5 pm, Apple Stores across the U.S. will host an hour of code learning event.