If a child enters Grade 1 this year, they will matriculate in 2031 and will enter a world that is radically different from the one that we know. It is important that we prepare them for the future by ensuring they keep up with the rapid evolution of technology.
Part of our Natural Science and Technology curriculum includes a weekly STEM contact session. Learning the language of code has benefits for a child’s personal and academic career. It is a way of solving problems, sequential thinking, creating, designing, and working with others. These are all characteristics of a 21st century learner – and skills needed to succeed in today’s technology-driven world.
These 4 C’s of coding, taught at Eversdal Primary School enable students to make sense of their digital footprint in the world.
- Confidence
Encouraging students to maintain a ‘can-do’ attitude towards solving difficult problems. One of the coding concepts taught is the term ‘Debugging’. This is the process of identifying and fixing a bug. Students learn that it takes perseverance to solve a problem and debug their code. When they solve the problem, there is a sense of achievement and the confidence to try new and different ways to solve problems.
- Creativity
By teaching our students to experiment, make mistakes, explore their ideas and question their assumptions we are developing their questioning mindset which is where creative thinking begins. Instead of being passive technology users they become active inventors and innovators.
- Collaboration
Working in teams is an essential life skill. Coding may be an independent task, but it calls for collaboration. Many projects or apps were designed by teams.
- Computational thinking
By starting young, children will be better prepared to succeed and thrive in the 21st century. Computational thinking provides children with a new way of thinking that can be used to solve a variety of problems. Computational thinking is a problem-solving process.We are taking the first step in preparing your learners for the Fourth Industrial Revolution by exposing them to coding on a weekly basis.
As Steve Jobs once said, “Everybody should learn to program a computer, because it teaches you how to think.”
