Educational technologists may advance the state of the field by increasing capacity to develop software tools and instructional applications. Presently, few academic programs in educational technology require even a single computer programming course. Further, the educational technologists who develop software generally work independently or in small groups of two or three people, which limits knowledge sharing and learning. This article provides a rationale for requiring educational technologists to learn computer programming. Then the focus shifts to building computer programming capacity in educational technology programs. To build capacity, particularly the number of educational technologists who develop software, the author invites educational technologists to begin by developing simple software tools, which often require fewer than 15 lines of computer code. After mastering the development of simple tools, educational technologists are invited to learn more sophisticated techniques, progressing toward the development of enhanced tools and instructional systems. This discussion of capacity building considers a variety of computer applications, including the development of user interfaces, database management systems, Webcrawlers, instructional simulations, software to track the effectiveness of instructional methods, and personal tutoring agents. Lastly, the article invites interested educational technologists to organize; to learn more about computer programming; and to develop innovative software tools and instructional applications.