Zuck, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey In Short Film To Inspire Kids To Learn How To Code

Re:Zuck, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey In Short Film To Inspire Ki... by patja on Tuesday February 26, 2013 @01:15PM (#5287288)

I think the point is there is a huge gap between the supply and demand for programming education, particularly for ages from 8 to 18. It is so easy and rewarding to feed the spark of desire to learn and create among kids of this age range, especially with all of the great free or almost free resources like MIT's Scratch purpose-built to address this need and reduce the barriers to entry.

Schools, teachers, and most parents are not equipped to deliver these experiences today. The superficial "technology programs" at most schools are appallingly shallow, not going much beyond Garage Band and book reports in Powerpoint.

Videos like this help motivate those who have the skills to engage and make a difference. What's not to like? Go out and get involved in volunteering to teach programming to kids. You will love it, and you will make a difference for kids who will go on to be the next generation of software developers.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Zuck, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey In Short Film To Inspire Ki... by cji on Wednesday February 27, 2013 @07:52AM (#5292062)

My 7 year old and I have been working together on the Super Scratch book from No Starch and he's having a blast. When he asks "Can we program now?" instead of asking to watch a TV show, it's an awesome feeling. With things like Scratch and now Minecraft (which he also loves) on the Raspberry Pi, it's great to see so many resources for kids that go beyond the BASIC programming I didn't start learning until I was a few years older than him.

[ Parent | on HN ]