My Superpower is Coding
Wu Pei began teaching her 6-year-old son to code this year, thinking he’d enjoy learning a skill that might boost his future job prospects in an increasingly digitized world. Now, she runs classes in Nanjing, China, and is helping more than 100 parents introduce their children to coding.
The 35-year-old former computer programmer with Foxconn Technology Group is tapping growing demand from parents intent on preparing their preschoolers for a world in which Oxford University researchers predict half the jobs in some countries may be eliminated by robots and computers.
“Teaching the next generation coding is something that should be elevated to a strategical national importance,” said Wang Jiulin, the Xi’an-based creator of Kidscode.cn, a website that shares free information and courses. “Even today, the majority of programmers in China can only perform very basic-level tasks and there’s huge demand for top notch coders.”
Encouraging children to learn how to write the instructions for computer programs may help China move up the technology value chain, making it more of an innovator of software and digital tools, rather than a mass manufacturer and a component supplier. As it is now, the world’s second-largest economy lags behind at least 16 countries in Europe and the U.S. in putting coding on the national school curriculum.
“It’s totally possible that your child could create a million-dollar app when they’re 12 years old -- you don’t need a masters’ degree to do that,” said Wayne Xiong, a partner at China Growth Capital, a Beijing-based venture capital fund which manages about $500 million of assets. “An education system where you need at least 21 years to test your return on investment is high-risk and unreasonable.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-11-17/latest-craze-for-chinese-parents-preschool-coding-classes
Wu Pei began teaching her 6-year-old son to code this year, thinking he’d enjoy learning a skill that might boost his future job prospects in an increasingly digitized world. Now, she runs classes in Nanjing, China, and is helping more than 100 parents introduce their children to coding.
The 35-year-old former computer programmer with Foxconn Technology Group is tapping growing demand from parents intent on preparing their preschoolers for a world in which Oxford University researchers predict half the jobs in some countries may be eliminated by robots and computers.
“Teaching the next generation coding is something that should be elevated to a strategical national importance,” said Wang Jiulin, the Xi’an-based creator of Kidscode.cn, a website that shares free information and courses. “Even today, the majority of programmers in China can only perform very basic-level tasks and there’s huge demand for top notch coders.”
Encouraging children to learn how to write the instructions for computer programs may help China move up the technology value chain, making it more of an innovator of software and digital tools, rather than a mass manufacturer and a component supplier. As it is now, the world’s second-largest economy lags behind at least 16 countries in Europe and the U.S. in putting coding on the national school curriculum.
“It’s totally possible that your child could create a million-dollar app when they’re 12 years old -- you don’t need a masters’ degree to do that,” said Wayne Xiong, a partner at China Growth Capital, a Beijing-based venture capital fund which manages about $500 million of assets. “An education system where you need at least 21 years to test your return on investment is high-risk and unreasonable.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-11-17/latest-craze-for-chinese-parents-preschool-coding-classes
“It’s totally possible that your child could create a million-dollar app when they’re 12 years old -- you don’t need a masters’ degree to do that,” said Wayne Xiong, a partner at China Growth Capital, a Beijing-based venture capital fund which manages about $500 million of assets. “An education system where you need at least 21 years to test your return on investment is high-risk and unreasonable.”
ReplyDeleteWhile coding is an important 21st-century literacy, and globally some countries are integrating it to their educational curriculum.The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development KICD is toying with the idea of introducing Mandarin/Chinese into the Kenyan curriculum year, 2016/18.What an irony?They want the status quo to remain.So that, our learners will continue being consumers of digital content and not the right path of being creators!!
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