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"Unfortunately, the strength in the talent pipeline that we see in female soccer today is not the reality for technology. The U.S. is facing a shortage of Computer Science (CS) graduates. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, every year there are close to 140,000 jobs requiring a CS degree, but only 40,000 U.S. college graduates major in CS, which means that 100,000 positions go unfilled by domestic talent. Even more dramatic is that women in U.S. colleges and universities earn only 18 percent of CS degrees. In middle school, 74 percent of girls express interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), but when choosing a college major, only 0.4 percent of high school girls select computer science. The true potential of future innovation will only become a reality if more women are part of it. A rich, diverse community of innovators is key for new technologies to address the needs of modern society. That is why Microsoft YouthSpark - a global initiative to create opportunities for all youth to learn computing - supports Girls Who Code, a national nonprofit organization that aims to close the gender gap in technology in the U.S."

"There is a shortage of people who know how to program. These are high quality, high paying jobs. How do we encourage students to learn how to code? Learning to programming not only is a skill that is in high demand, it is also incredibly useful. We have all wished we had an app or a program that would do a particular thing that is specific to ourselves. I know some HTML and some JavaScript and Google Apps Script and it is amazing what you can do with just a little knowledge"

"Until recently, I was like Jane, but with technology. I used tech tools all day with little knowledge of their workings. And, despite my interactions with Jane, I had a typical fixed-mindset explanation for this: "I'm an English teacher. My brain doesn't work that way." What I was really saying was, "I forget how to be a beginner." A year ago, though, I became a beginner, an apprentice, a struggling learner. I decided to learn how to code. Immediately, the experience became less about designing websites and more about experiencing the growth mindset, improving confidence with technology, and learning that failure is part of the process."

"In the digital age, you're never too young to learn valuable STEM skills. Explore code, game design, and graphic design at Tech Rocket, an online learning destination for kids and teens launched by iD Tech."

"My cat is pretty unflappable, given that she shares a house with four children. But when a three-wheeled robot trundles into the living room, even Lola can't belt out of the cat-flap fast enough. Perhaps it's the barking that spooked her. The robot is called Dash, and like its smaller, stationary friend Dot, it's the work of technology startup Wonder Workshop. It's excellent at yapping cats off the sofa, but its real goal is teaching children to code."

"A lot of people limit themselves only to use things without wondering how they work internally or without having the ability to look inside and possibly make changes.This means that we renounce a better understanding of the objects that surround us and we become mere passive users of systems, mechanisms and technology. By cultivating the maker philosophy and promoting tinkering and coding, we can lay a solid foundation for those kids and young people who are intrigued by science, technology, art, engineering and maths. We can also involve more girls to encourage them to choose future career paths in scientific and  technological areas."

"Bonus: Coding gives you superpowers!"

"There's no shortage of nit-picking gamers who feel they could easily make better video games than what's being released every week. And thanks to a new iPad app called Toy Engine, they can put their money where their mouths are and design their own side-scrolling video game, even if they've never written a single line of code."

QR Core is a QR Code generator, it will allow you to create QR codes for names, urls, phone numbers, email addresses or plain text.

"How to Use QR Codes in Student Projects"

"Teens Turn to Social Coding to Protect Privacy on Social Nets"

" Ways to Use QR Codes in Your Classroom"

"We were in the midst of moving the oversized red bird around the maze to capture the evil green pig, using block-style programming codes up on the interactive board, when one of my sixth grade students raised her hand and asked the inevitable question: "Mr. H, why are we learning about computer programming in writing class? Why do we need to know this?""

"Common Sense Media's service Graphite, which offers independent ratings and reviews of learning apps and websites, has compiled this list of apps to get young students started on the road to coding. For complete reviews, and for each app's "Learning Rating," visit the Graphite website."

"Here are ideas of apps and websites that teachers in my PLN used successfully in the past during Hour of Code:"

"Even if you think the buzz around "learning how to code" is overkill, you have to admit it's here to stay. Just like it's easier to learn a foreign language if you start in grade school, getting an early grasp on mark-up and programming languages such as HTML, CSS and Java ensures you'll have an idea of what makes our digital lives and devices tick, even if you don't plan on becoming a software developer."

"Did you know that this week (December 8-14) is Computer Science Education Week? There are resources available via the previous link to help encourage kids to learn to code, to bring computer science education to your school or district, and more. While the concept is mainly aimed at encouraging schools to teach more computer science and more kids to (want to) learn computer science, it can address a much, much wider audience. 'Computer Science' can sound like a big scary unknown thing if you're someone who has never done any type of programming before, but it doesn't have to be."