December is right around the corner, and we all know what that means – it’s time for Hour of Code! Hour of Code is celebrated each year during Computer Science Education Week, which is coming up this year from December 9-15. 

VEX has new Hour of Code activities for you to inspire your students’ interest in computer science and build their coding confidence. Our Hour of Code Activities for 2024 offer inspiration for coders of all levels, whether they are using a physical or virtual robot. Activities can be completed using the coding language they are comfortable with, from the 123 Coder to Blocks to text-based coding with Python and C++.

This year’s new activities encourage students who are ready to start exploring text-based coding to try Switch! Switch blocks ease the often overwhelming transition from block-based to text-based coding, and give students the ability to control the level of challenge they take on, making it achievable rather than frustrating.

Switch is designed to act as a bridge between block and text-based coding in Python. Students can use Switch blocks to gradually introduce themselves to text-based coding by incorporating Python commands into VEXcode Blocks projects at their own pace.

To learn more about how Switch benefits students, read the following Insights articles:

• Switch: A New Approach for Incremental Transition to Text-Based Programming
• Using Switch Blocks to Support Differentiation

Support for Switch

Each new activity on hoc.vex.com provides support and guidance for students and teachers to help students make the most of using Switch, including:

The Activities

This year’s Hour of Code activities are open-ended challenges that can be done in an hour, but can also extend well past that timeline, as students can iterate and improve on their projects many times. And, with Switch blocks included, one activity can meet the different needs of all of your students, as they have control of the coding method they use.

VEXcode VR

To celebrate CS Ed Week, for the month of December all Playgrounds in VEXcode VR are unlocked, so students have access to not only Switch blocks, but also all Enhanced and Premium playgrounds, such as Virtual Skills! 

VIQRC Rapid Relay

In this activity, students will code Swish, this year’s Hero Bot, to earn as many points as possible using the VIQRC Rapid Relay Playground. Rapid Relay is the virtual version of the 24-25 VIQRC game, in which the robot must fling balls through switches to clear the goals, and then score as many goals as they can to rack up points.

V5RC High Stakes

This activity uses the V5RC High Stakes Playground. Here, students have one minute to score rings onto stakes and climb the ladder to score points. Students will create projects for the virtual Hero Bot, Axel.

VEX EXP and VEX IQ

This year’s activities for EXP and IQ create hour long, open-ended engagements around a game concept from one of our competition STEM Labs. The competition aspect provides a motivating and exciting way to take part in Hour of Code!

VEX EXP Ring Leader

In this activity, students compete by coding an EXP Clawbot to place rings over different-sized posts. The higher the post, the higher the score!

VEX IQ Cube Collector

Students compete by coding their IQ Clawbot to stack and sort cubes into color-coded scoring areas in this activity. An extra level of challenge can be added by having students time themselves to see how quickly they can sort and stack!

Other Hour of Code Activities

All Hour of Code activities from previous years are still available on hoc.vex.com, including activities for VEX 123 and VEX GO. Switch support has been added for both students and teachers for IQ, EXP, V5 and VR activities. And, for the month of December, all enhanced and premium level Playgrounds in VEXcode VR are free and open to everyone.

Hour of Code activities offer a great opportunity to get all of your students engaged and excited about beginning to code, or advancing their coding skills. The addition of Switch makes it easy for you to meet students where they are, and make their experience meaningful whether you have one hour or several hours to devote!