I was at the ACEC Conference in Adelaide recently where I bumped into the ABC Splash team and got chatting with the wonderful Annabel Astbury. We were talking about getting kids coding and the importance of digital technologies in schools. One thing led to another and I was given an opportunity to write a series of three blog posts on the importance of coding for children as part of ABC Splash’s buildup to the Hour of Code.
If you’d like to read them you can find them here…
- Part 1 – More than a Game: Why Coding will help kids for life
- Part 2 – Programs to help students with key coding concepts
- Part 3 – Coding: something for everyone (and here’s the proof!)
As well as these three written posts I was also interviewed for a video series on the importance of coding, which was released as part of the Hour of Code promotions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmazfre_ztE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1UUgB3lTcoThanks to Annabel and the team for the opportunity to contribute to what I think is a very important conversation to have. Our currently education minister has exhibited a good deal of short-sightedness in regard to the importance of technology education in Australian schools, with many people believing that the recent curriculum review has taken a backwards step in the way digital technologies is approached in the national curriculum. Let’s hope if we keep the conversation going that we can keep this agenda on the table, for the good of our kids and the future of Australia as a technologically relevant country.