The question of how we should teach children coding is constantly on the agenda with different approaches. There are many applications and workshops with coding everywhere.
Coding; fixture of the digital world.
Every area in our lives is developing and changing rapidly, creating harmony with technology. When we look back over the past few years, we are actually making a lot of effort without realizing it to keep up with, use and even understand this constantly developing technology.
Most of us have witnessed, at least partially, the development of computers that are large enough to cover our entire work desks, computers that are now in our pockets, phones with antennas, touch phones, and even phones that are now voice assistants. But children are now born into a system that grows and develops very quickly.
We can easily observe that most children can now use many social media accounts and play games before they even start school. It is constantly stated by experts that childhood is the period in human development when it is easiest to learn and be most creative. The changes that begin in childhood enable them to be a part of a brand new world in every field, including career choices.
In this constantly changing world, the most popular topic of recent times: Coding!
Coding, in its simplest definition, is speaking in a language that computers can understand. Just as people use various languages to communicate with each other (body language, spoken languages, etc.), the way to do this with computers and machines is to know coding. In order to teach children the concept of coding, we can start by gamifying daily routines as if we were having them done by a computer.
Computers complete the tasks given to them step by step in a certain order. This way of working is called algorithm. Our priority should be to carry out coding activities while teaching coding. If we wish, we can create these activities by writing them on a piece of paper or use them in various applications. For example, code.org, scratch, various maker works)
With the algorithm, children are actually given a thinking skill. In this way, when a difficulty arises at any time in his life, he will be able to easily find out how to solve it.
We know that almost all children around us play games with tablets and computers and that they are incredibly interested in these games. People (especially children) are always more open to learning about things they like. Loved and curious things are wanted to be discovered more. Based on this feature, there are various coding platforms and various applications that aim to both teach children coding and entertain them while teaching. With these applications, children can easily create their own games and animations.
So what are these applications? Let’s give a few examples.
- Scratch
- Kodugame lab
- Minecraft Education
- Alice
In the first applications created, we recommend that you use block-based (drag and drop) applications so that children can learn coding and programming more easily and say “I can do it.” Even though incredible games can be created with block-based applications, they may not be enough after a certain time. In order to develop more professional and comprehensive applications, it is also possible to develop advanced applications with platforms where various programming languages can be used and where one can take the first step towards becoming a software developer.
So what are these applications? Let’s give a few examples.
- Checkio
- CodeMonster
- Tynker
It is also very important to prepare our future for a world where they can better understand, manage and live in a constantly changing and developing system. That’s why we should be teaching coding to children at an early age by gamifying it in a fun way so they won’t get bored. Children are incredibly creative compared to adults. We have full faith that, given a suitable tool and a user manual, they will be able to create incredible things in the future, just like the games they create on their computers.