An educationist and visionary in true sense, 40 years old Shivram Choudhary derives his joy and energy from service to humanity. Deeply passionate about innovations in education, he firmly believes that school education is the foundation of nation-building and if we really want to bring about a positive change, it should happen at this crucial stage. A learner and seeker at heart, he has widely travelled to different countries around the world for several times to attend seminars, conferences and learning visits and bought back the best of practices and integrated them into the school system.
The past year has changed many things in the education sector. Due to the pandemic, most schools and colleges have opted for online classrooms. This is the age of remote learning.
Today’s kids are connected with technology all the time. They play games, attend classes, listen to music, and whatnot. The world is changing drastically. Everything is becoming more digital. And looking at the pace of technology, it is really important to foster technical skill development in kids.
For example, when kids play games, they just see the front-end of the interface. But a lot of things go behind the screen. Fostering technical skills in kids will allow them to see what goes behind the screen.
It is important to teach kids basic technical skills. It will prepare them for the digital world they are going to enter. It starts with curiosity. The curiosity to know how machines and computers work. This curiosity will imbibe interest in them create something on their own.
The main aim to teach kids technical skills is not to prepare them for a future in IT. Instead, learning technical skills will help them improve their problem-solving, teamwork, and other soft skills they need for success.
Another important thing to mention is that we should not only tell them about how technology works. We should also teach them how technology can help solve different problems for us and our community.
But how can we foster these technical skills in kids? The main skill that is inevitable when we talk about technology is computer coding or programming. Computer programming is the process of building a computer program to accomplish a specific task. Coding is the way how humans communicate with computers. Codes written in different programming languages compile together to accomplish a specific task.
This is why we feel that everyone should learn to code. It will let them think like computers. Coding will let kids see how machines work together to present a beautiful result.
Today, lots of kids start to learn basic programming at an early age. Some coding courses and books teach kids how to code easily. Ed-tech companies like Codevidhya are doing their part to promote coding for kids.
Teaching kids to code will set them up for success in many ways. But how to start? To answer the main question of this article, how can we foster these skills? It is a step-by-step process. Kids will not learn everything in a day or two.
To foster tech skills, we should first teach them the importance of technology in our daily lives. Then we should start with the coding languages that are out there. For example, Scratch is a great language to let kids start with coding. It is an interactive block-based programming language that lets kids make drawings and animations on their own. It will create the interest to learn more.
After teaching Scratch, kids can learn App and Web development with languages like HTML, CSS, and Javascript. These are the vital languages that go behind the websites and applications that we use daily. These three languages will let them create websites on their own. By this time, a kid will have a definite knowledge of coding.
For the next level, Python and Artificial Intelligence are two subjects that can make them masters of their league. These two languages are to foster advanced skills. It will teach them how to design games and automate tasks with artificial intelligence. These two subjects will set the future of the IT ecosystem. So if a kid wants to become a computer science engineer, then these are the subjects that you must master. It will help them a lot.
Fostering technical skills is important in today’s generation. But apart from computer science knowledge, there are many things that a kid can benefit from learning these skills. Fostering technical skills will improve a kid’s problem-solving skills. As kids counter problems in their programs, they will try to solve them, which in turn will create a sense of solving problems.
Coding improves focus and makes a kid more resilient. Coding requires a lot of focus. Programmers spend a lot of time while creating an application. And without focus, they won’t be able to create such things. On the other hand, they face many difficulties while creating the same. But resilience is important to stick to the goal and solve those problems.
These are some of the soft skills that coding teaches kids. There are many other skills that get into a kid when they learn to code. Studies show that multiple jobs require the knowledge of technical skills.
Fostering technical skills also lets a kid understand the never-ending ocean of possibilities. Kids become more creative, focused, and much more. And that’s why we feel that fostering technical skills will prepare every kid for a better and brighter future.