It is that time of the year again. Code.org has come up with Star Wars and Minecraft theme for this year’s largest learning event being held from Dec 7 – Dec 14 during Computer Science Education Week. Computers are everywhere, but fewer schools teach computer science than 10 years ago. Good news is, we’re on our …
Wake up NZ…Aussie kids learn to code!
Australia is about to introduce a code literacy movement, to introduce all school children to the learn to code, starting from the primary school. Malcolm Turnbull’s first words as the newly elected leader echo that: “The Australia of the future has to be a nation that is agile, that is innovative, that is creative.” In …
Starting from Scratch….
Sometime back I posted about the beginner’s language Scratch, in the post Scratch the Surface. A 10-year old Jess Page in Invercargill has written his first book “Starting from Scratch”. Good on you Jess Page, it is awesome and we need more of your kind to lead your peers. Read more of the story in the …
BBC does it again with BBC micro:bit
It was 1987 when I first got introduced to the BBC Micro computers, it seems our school got two with help from British Council. It was fascinating beyond imagination for someone who thought seven segment Casio LED calculators were so cool. That was also the first introduction to programming with Logo and BASIC. An article …
What’s your little one watching on YouTube?
Many a times we let our kids wander on YouTube or access Internet while we are busy with chores. Do you always know what your little one is watching on YouTube? Is it the harmless Bob the Builder or a nasty adult version of Bob the Builder, or Dora or whatever character your child fancies, …
Get your kids to code with Anna and Elsa!
This is the power of new-age coding, helping kids to learn while maintaining the fun. As soon as the movie Frozen was released I could hear “Let it go” everywhere. It also got people at the most amazing code.org come up with something magical. They created the Hour of Code with Anna and Elsa, inviting kids all …
Scratch the Surface
It took longer than expected to get the third post going. The previous post introduced Lightbot which is a cool kit for getting kids to learn concepts of programming on a mobile device or tablet. This time I’ll show you how to scratch the surface of programming with Scratch. In 2003 Lifelong Kindergarten Group at Media Lab …
5 Reasons Why Young Kids Should Learn To Code
Two years ago, or may be little more, at an “unconference” a few people were shocked to hear that a six year should be learning to code. After a few discussions, as in an unconference, it turned out that there is a perception of a coder to be a hairy geek. This perception can be attributed …
Why Are Concepts Of Computing Important For Kids?
As a first post I think it is important to answer the foremost question – Why are the concepts of computing important for kids? Everything else can follow, the hows and the whats. If you look around, you can see it for yourself. In a public bus, in a park, maybe in your house, or wherever …