Mozilla today announced the "Mozilla Webmaker," a program designed to help people everywhere make, learn and play using the open building blocks of the web.
Mozilla says Webmaker's goal is to move people from using the web to actively making the web.
Webmaker will offer authoring tools and software, designed and built with Mozilla's community. These include Mozilla's Popcorn for creating video and audio projects, Hackasaurus for mashing up web pages and Thimble for actually building web pages.
Mozilla Webmaker will also feature practical starter projects, how-tos and recipes, designed to help users at all levels tweak their blog template or build apps.
Mozilla will also help users organize community gatherings in which people with diverse skills and backgrounds will be met together to exchange ideas.
Mozilla is kicking off Mozilla Webmaker with a summer learning campaign. It's called the Summer Code Party, will run all summer long, and kicks off June 23 and will include local events around the world.
Mozilla Webmaker is supported by Tumblr, Creative Commons, Code for America, SoundCloud, the San Francisco Public Library, the London Zoo, and others.
Mozilla's Executive Director, Mark Surman, says Webmaker is the product of Mozilla's growing commitment to learning, and the culmination of experiments it began with the Mozilla Drumbeat project.
"The web is becoming the world's second language, and a vital 21st century skill - as important as reading, writing and arithmetic," says Surman. "It's crucial that we give people the skills they need to understand, shape and actively participate in that world, instead of just passively consuming it. That maker spirit and open ethos is vital to Mozilla, our partners, and the web."
The Mozilla Webmaker web site launches June 6. In the mean time, check out the Summer Code Party site to find an event near you.
