Hour of AI

The Hour of Code™ is a global movement designed to introduce students of all ages to computer science and programming. It consists of one-hour tutorials that are accessible to beginners and aim to demonstrate that anyone can learn to code. This global initiative is constantly evolving and now includes an exciting new focus on Artificial Intelligence with the Hour of AI™.

Anyone can participate in the Hour of Code, including students, teachers, parents, and individuals of all ages. Tutorials are available for various age groups and skill levels, from young children to adults.

No prior coding experience is necessary to participate in the Hour of Code. The tutorials are designed to be beginner-friendly and are suitable for people who have never coded before.

The Hour of AI™ is an evolution of the Hour of Code, designed to demystify Artificial Intelligence and expand foundational AI literacy. It provides free, one-hour introductory activities that empower students to move from being passive users to active, responsible creators who can shape the future of this technology.

Think of the Hour of AI™ as a new and exciting focus area within the Hour of Code™ movement. As technology evolves, so does the focus of computer science education. The Hour of AI™ recognizes the growing importance of artificial intelligence and provides a dedicated pathway for students to explore it, just as the Hour of Code has successfully done for general programming.

No. Just like the Hour of Code™, Tynker’s Hour of AI activities are designed for beginners. Our tutorials use a friendly, block-based approach to make complex AI concepts simple, visual, and fun for students of all ages.

To organize an event, visit Tynker's Hour of Code page and explore the resources available for educators. You can find ready-to-use lesson plans and step-by-step guides for both coding and AI activities to help you set up a successful event.

Tynker offers teachers and parents various resources for both Hour of Code and Hour of AI, including a Teacher Planning Guide, lesson plans, activity guides, and community forums. These resources are designed to help you facilitate coding sessions and encourage children to learn computer science.

Each student needs a desktop, laptop, or Chromebook with an internet connection and an up-to-date browser. No downloads are required. Students can work in pairs on the same device if not enough devices are available.

If you’re a Tynker teacher, you may have already completed this step – nice work! For those who still need to get set up: take 2 minutes to create a Tynker account and add a classroom for your students. We provide all the scaffolded content, so your work is done! Once you’re signed in, visit "MY CLASSES" inside your dashboard to get started.

You can set up your student rosters with Clever, Google Accounts, or Tynker Accounts. If you use Clever, read this post to set up your classes. If you use Google Accounts, watch this quick setup video. To create Tynker Accounts for your classes, this quick video walks you through the process.

Once you set up a classroom, you can add students and assign programming puzzle game lessons through your teacher dashboard. You can import students to a single classroom, add them to multiple classrooms, manually create individual Tynker accounts, or have your students add themselves using a class code.

Your teacher dashboard is where you can access all your teacher guides, answer keys, student metrics, and certificates. You can see just how much your students are coding and even help them if they get stuck! You can print out personalized achievement certificates for each student at the end of their Hour of Code or Hour of AI.