Programming can be kid’s play with a bright, engaging new app designed to teach the basics of functional coding to ages 8-12. The visually based, free Hopscotch app encourages creative programming skills by allowing scripts to run simply by dragging and dropping various objects into place.
The Ramey Perspective:
We love this concept. Children easily grasp the fundamentals of many new tools in a visual way. Rather than wade through confusing words and numbers, they’ll learn how code works from a higher perspective. Educators using low-cost tablets in their classrooms are helping students as they “snap together” scripts like virtual Legos to create animations and simple applications. Kids are getting excited about realizing what they can imagine, solving problems together, and gaining positive reinforcement when they see their work come to life on-screen.
How This Could Affect You:
Through beginning applications, such as Hopscotch, a new generation of trendsetters will be inspired to learn programming and engineering-related skills. When these creative young minds begin to converse freely with a common understanding of how programs work, innovation is bound to follow. Companies hiring new graduates with this powerful digital “lingua franca” will be those positioned to move ahead quickly in a rapidly changing, technology-oriented marketplace.
Additional Resources for Kids and Coding:
Scratch (https://scratch.mit.edu/)
Tynker (https://www.tynker.com/)
Snap! (https://snap.berkeley.edu/snapsource/snap.html)
Blocky (https://code.google.com/p/blockly/?redir=1)
Mark Robinson, Digital Innovation at The Ramey Agency
