Can you believe that kids as young as 7 can code some bananas to make music? Here is Vera and Dana (Life’s Tiny Miracles) playing on their banana piano!
How did they do it?
Well the teachers from Tink Tank first demonstrated to the kids how to code a virtual piano in Scratch, and then got them to do it on their own in pairs. They got to choose the characters that they liked and followed some basic steps to code their own piano.
The first code is to detect which arrow key is pressed, the second code is to tell the computer to play a certain piano note and the third code is the animation that they chose for their character, be it to change costume or colour or position, etc. Subsequently we connect the laptop to makey makey, which is an invention kit that turns everyday objects into touchpads.
But how does learning to code really benefit kids? Deddy Setiadi, co-founder of Tink Tank shares more in this exclusive interview…
I believe that there has been a lot of buzz in recent times about how coding is the new literacy and phrases like “digital literacy” is becoming more commonplace. While our current world is shaped fundamentally by subjects likes math and science that we learn in school, the current and future world that we live in will be very much a digital world, where our lives are also fundamentally shaped by computers and connected devices.
A lack of literacy of programming may be crippling in future as it is undesirable to merely be passive consumers of technology. That’s why we at Tink Tank feel that every child should learn to code or at least have some exposure to it.
While not every child wants a career as a programmer, coding is a valuable life skill for everyone.
No matter what path you choose as your career in future, computer science skills will prove valuable. For instance, a personnel in marketing will benefit as marketing has gone digital. Crucial components of marketing such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will likely involve HTML coding and using tools like Google Analytics. Of course, if your child is going to work in the IT sector, he/she will likely have excellent job prospects because with Singapore working towards becoming a “smart nation”, the Ministry of Communications and Information has announced recently that an additional 30,000 ICT jobs will need to be filled by 2020.
In addition, attending programming classes will help build up important life skills such as problem solving and computational thinking skills. Coding is very sequential – you need to know what to write and why one code comes after another. One will be able to make logical connections that can help him learn to analyse different situations and look at the big picture before drilling down to the smaller steps to reach the goal. Computational thinking also allows kids to grasp concepts like algorithms, variables and arithmetic operators. Also, whenever they do hands on coding activities and face errors, kids will learn to identify the problem and debug the programme.
What is the optimal age to begin learning coding?
I think 8 years old onwards would be appropriate as children of this age would have developed an adequate level of logical maturity, while still be very open to learning new concepts and have a strong curiosity about their environment.
What do beginners coding programmes involve?
There has been a growing amount of free online coding tutorials that are popular among both kids and adults, such as Hour of Code. Depending on age group and interest, people normally start off by learning app creation or basic website design/development. It may sound daunting, but it’s actually really easy to get started! For kids, essentially what they need is to be fairly familiar with simple typing and the use of the laptop and be able to grasp simple instructions in English and follow them.
We live in a gadget-filled world. How can parents manage children’s use of computers and gadgets, even while exposing them to interesting programmes such as coding?
Yes, this is a concern that many of us have as it is not easy to strike a good balance. I believe that the way to best of managing also differs depending on how old the child is and how much prior exposure he/she already has to devices. Perhaps when first starting to introduce the kids to such devices, parents can let kids use devices that have pre-installed coding / learn-to-code apps or games, but restrict the use of internet – either by blocking the internet entirely, or blocking certain websites like Facebook, 9gag etc.
Before the device reaches the hands of their kids, it should already be prepared for its use – educational purposes only.
Of course it will help if parents also have some knowledge on coding, or other relevant technical knowledge to further guide the kids along.
As the kids grow, I think the focus transitions to teaching children about responsible use of their devices, which isn’t limited to not losing it or breaking it, but also using it for the right purposes. It is best not to be too restrictive and to give the kid some freedom and trust because you do not want them to be doing things out of spite or defiance. However, I think it would be good to be transparent about checking their use of the device, because doing it behind their backs will just make them take the undesirable surfing elsewhere.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Deddy!
Exclusive offer for readers for Tink Tank holiday coding workshops
Tink Tank is offering a special promotion price of $25 (original price: $150) for readers who want to sign up for their upcoming First Line Of Code workshops in June. Tailored for children between 8-12 years old. Just enter the code “JUNEDISCOUNT” when booking your slot!
Through this workshop, your kids will:
1) Be exposed to basic computer science concepts using Lightbot, an educational video game and Coding Farmers, a fun board game.
2) Write their first line of codes and create computer games using Scratch.
Workshop details:
- Date: 05 June 2016 OR 12 June 2016 OR 19 June 2016
- Time: 8.30am-12.30pm OR 1.30pm-5.30pm
- Price: Special price of $25 for readers. Just enter “JUNEDISCOUNT” when booking your slot! (Original price is $150)
- Venue: Singapore Shopping Centre, 190 Clemenceau Ave, 239924 (Beside Parkmall), nearest MRT station: Dhoby Ghaut
- Things to bring along: Fully charged laptop and stationery. (Let us know if you are unable to do so, and we will make arrangements for a spare laptop.)
- Note: Parents are invited to join the kids at 12noon or 5pm respectively for parents’ presentation.
Workshops are kept to a cosy 8-10 kids per session so seats tend to run out pretty quickly. Sign up now!
**Thanks, Tink Tank, for the special offer, and for having us learn to code with you guys!
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