Category: Technology

There has been not a more enigmatic and mysterious topic in children’s education and development then Coding & Programming. With no resources required and not a material product visible, its hard to believe that the language and logic of programming can be the backbone of the functioning of the entire world. As we move more and more into a world dominated & dependent on & by technology, the importance of learning to code and program only increases.

Numerous questions come to the mind of all be it parents, children or school authorities.

• How early can children start coding?
• How does it benefit the children, is it really ok for 4th graders to learn coding/programming?
• Can children with lesser skills and inclination in Math’s and Science also learn to code?

The Future of Jobs Report by the World Economic Forum has predicted 65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that do not even exist yet. This is only possible due to the fast shift in technology and software dominated world

Digitization and automation has become essential in a largely uncertain future dominated by quick-changing trends with the only common thread being technology. The one way we can prepare them is by teaching the young to code and embrace this change.

A good analogy would be how Mathematics became only compulsory after the industrial revolution when urban population began to increase and basic numerical skills began to be essential.

Many experts agree that coding can and should start young. Younger students are particularly suited to learn coding & programming. Enabling children to learn coding is not only giving the future generation skills that will keep them in good steed, but also increases their affinity towards STEM subjects and programs as they go about in a more enjoyable way to learn these programs.

Seymour Papert, the pioneer of early computer literacy once wrote that many kids are held back because the traditional model of learning focuses on right versus wrong. Programming a computer is, instead, about isolating bugs. “The question … is not whether it is right or wrong, but if it is fixable. If this way of looking at intellectual products were generalized to how the larger culture thinks about knowledge and its acquisition, we might all be less intimidated by our fears of ‘being wrong’”..

India has opened up its curriculum and mind to bringing coding and programming to primary and secondary school. Some schools have progressively adapted our programs like iCode & iPython (www.irobokid.com) which teach game designing based application programming to children from as little as Grades 4 onwards & others have decided to adapt these programs in their STEM labs. We have had tremendous response to our online programs for coding on our portal (futurelearning.irobokid.com) as have other similar program providers especially during these times, when one is confined in their homes and also having limited outdoor activities.

These programs not only increase the ability to learn basic programming skills, but also sharpen their logic based thinking which will stay with them for life and help them adapt many a change in the world of technology.

The Government of India recognizing the need to learn coding as made it a large part of its Atal Tinkering Labs as well.

Internationally the push towards learning Coding & Programming has been massive – As Mark Zuckerberg says, “In 15 years, we’ll be teaching programming just like reading and writing … and wondering why we didn’t do it sooner.” Former US president Barack Obama had also joined the chorus with the famous line, “Don’t just play on your phone, program it”.

The UK has gone so far as to mandate teaching coding at school, while other countries, including Estonia, Finland, Italy and Singapore, are already incorporating coding into classroom instruction

Like any other languages,coding for children will undergo transformation and young learners will have to be nimble and will have to adapt to different changes. There are fast dynamic shifts in the world of business and careers, given the new world order of pandemics, borders and work from home. It will not be a smooth ride into the future, but it will help to be prepared proactively and make our children “ Future Ready “

As Merida said in Brave “You control your destiny — you don’t need magic to do it. And there are no magical shortcuts to solving your problems.”

Sources / Credit – WEF / India Economic Summit / Wikipedia

The power of the human mind is intense. It is capable of achieving things that any artificial intelligence is far from reaching. All of this and more, it all is possible because of the human mind’s ability to evaluate and analyse situations; the human mind is capable of reasoning; it is capable of assessing; it is capable of using logic.

Computer programmers have attempted creating systems as complex and as powerful as the human mind, and while they still have miles to go before they accomplish such a task, the impact that programs have on our lives today is beyond imagination. Ranging from video-conferencing to online banking, several hundreds of services today are based on simple logic, in a script that a computer can understand, code. This script diversifies into several different languages, each with its own specific syntax, with its own specific purpose. HTML is used for coding websites, Java can be used to program applications, and Apple Inc.’s Metal serves the specific purpose of creating applications on iOS devices. Briefly, all coding languages follow one common rule: logic.

In reality, rarely do we observe the presence of code, even while we use these coded services to large extents. Coding can be challenging, as there are several complex issues, previously unprecedented, that may turn up. Coding can also be extremely time-consuming, although the result in many cases is worth the time spent on it. It has helped mankind achieve things that were formerly declared impossible, and in the end, codes are nothing without innovation, just like any piece of art. Several real-life examples may be given to prove the power of coding; in verifying that programs can revolutionize an entire industry. Some of the standout examples would be Uber and AirBNB, as these two firms are amongst the first and most impactful firms that incorporate technology with another industry.

In metro cities around the world, catching a taxi has never been easy. Well, that was the truth atleast until Uber came into existence. The entire mission has been based on this one idea, one single innovation. And when this innovation was turned into code, dreams became reality. Hours of waiting in line at a taxi stand were cut short by a taxi waiting at your doorstep, ready to meet your demands and set to go miles with you. The idea started off slowly, but when it caught wind, it exploded. Today, Uber has inspired the introduction of an entire new industry, the online taxi industry, with competition from other smaller brands like Ola Cabs, in India.

Similarly, AirBNB took the issue of booking hotels and private villas for a holiday and created a solution that takes the industry to the next level. It was a known fact that small-scale rental apartments provided cheap and quality lodging, but given the amount of such apartments, there were problems booking such places. Firstly, there was the issue of trust. Nobody knew that these places weren’t frauds, and nobody wanted to rely on pictures that most likely would have been photo-shopped. Further, these lodges were hard to contact. There was no single database where you could find several options to choose from. So, innovators looked for a solution to this, and they found one in technology. So, they created a portal where users could choose from the thousands of hotels offered on the website. All based on complex programs, written using code.

While technology would be incomplete without a scribe, it would be just as incomplete without a script; without a coder or a code; without a programmer or a program. Technology wouldn’t exist without either, and if it did, the creation of the missing fragment would be inevitable.

 

The name Kalavati shot thru prominence in 2009, when one of the politicians mentioned about the poor widow from Vidarbha in parliament. Much politicized and eventually forgotten and left to her plight, the story of Kalavati has gone from bad to worse, inspite of being highlighted in the highest echelons of power in India. Half of her family has committed suicide and she was left to fend for herself with her life depending on the rain gods in one of the countries most draught prone areas i.e, Vidarbha.

Several kilometers north, in an other famously agrarian state famous for its paddy and wheat fields, probably a decade apart, another girl was born in Karnal, Punjab. Having completed her BE in Aeronautical Engineering, the first girl to do that course in the University and amongst only 4 girls to do any engineering course in the University. Her name was was Kalpana Chawla. Kalpana moved to the United States in 1982 where she obtained a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1984. Determined to become an astronaut even in the face of the Challenger disaster, Chawla went on to earn a second Masters in 1986 and a PhD in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
– (Source Wikipedia)

Eventually in 2003, in the ill-fated Columbus crash, Kalpana along with 7 of her co-astronuts died when the shuttle disintegrated on its way back to earth. Kalpana posthumously received several recognitions from India as well as US and has been inspiring millions of children and girls across the globe to persevere and follow their dreams.

The contrast between the two stories is startling, and with all due respect to the circumstances and unfortunate scenario for Kalavati. The journey India has to make , has to be from Kalavati to Kalpana Chawla.

We must give girls the opportunity to attend schools, universities and colleges. While, basic education is being addressed by various Govt schemes and also awareness programs. The data at the higher education level shows an even more dismal picture. Complete lack of opportunities and lack of forward thinking has resulted in fewer and fewer girls pursuing higher education & professional jobs. There has to be a conscious effort to move beyond basic education to higher education and skill education awareness for girls. The no of girls According to an article in Times of India 2013, the statistics in IIT are startling, out of 14 hostels in IIT, only 1 is for girls. The ratio in IIT Chennai is 10 :1 for boys and girls. For certain fields like Mechanical Engineering its deplorable, IIT Delhi has 1 girl in a class of 110.

A lot of it is attributed to perception problem and more of it is from the parents/guardian side. Somehow the idea of girls doing engineering or anything related to mechanics is a non starter. Even as simple as, for boys the gifts to buy is Mechanix or Cars etc, but for girls its dolls, drawing craft etc. This myth has to be busted and there is enough empirical evidence to do so. Girls have proven to be equal if not better at most technical and computer skills then boys. Some of the biggest tech companies in the world have CEOs or important positions for women.

Early exposure to S.T.E.M education is a must. A news report says that in 2020, 1 out of 5 jobs will be STEM related. Schools have to start introducing girls to S.T.E.M education by default, whether they pick it up or get inspired or don’t is a secondary issue. The opportunity to get exposed to it should be there, they should be free to learn and understand the fields of Mechanics, Robotics, Building Themes etc.

The fields and doors have opened, technology has changed, the physical aspect of these fields has been replaced with logic, and technical knowhow. It is time we must too. We as a country must make this journey of making our girls independent and free to think and follow their dreams. We must break any traditions which shackle them, whether it is the basic education which we don’t emphasize on , or not permitting to study or work after marriage etc.

The path to this change is ignite (Igniting Girls Natural Interest in Technology & Engineering) & if we are able to make a significant push and change, we will traverse the journey faster and the life of Kalpana Chawla is one which would inspire a whole generation of students to tread this journey.

 

For anyone living in Mumbai, the last two months have seen a major overhaul of roads. Each and every road across the city has been dug up, thankfully work has been visibly moving on a fast pace and one can hope to have visibly cleared up better and smoother roads come June, when the monsoon season traditionally begins.

Another thing starts in June, every year around the 1st week and 2nd week, children from across the country will be resuming school after a long month break of vacation. However unfortunately unlike the roads there is no visible upheaval in the school infrastructure.

While the new schools which are coming up have huge resources at their backing & are equipped with modern rooms and facilities, huge air conditioned lobbies and multiple security layers while the the old & some of them centuries old existing schools are having facilities and infrastructure which have been prevalent since the past couple of decades or so. There is still a glaring hole in terms of providing facilities and infrastructure which will stimulate the children’s practical learning skills and life skills which are more and beyond the curriculum.

While to be fair to them, schools have embraced newer teaching aids like smart boards and the odd computer labs, we have yet to see schools create infrastructure which are more cutting edge and relevant in terms of exposing to the children to technologies and skills of the next century.

Simple machines, Robotics, Apps, Drones, Engineering tools, Nano tech, Scratch programming, 3d printing labs etc the list can go on and on. These are the skills which we need to expose the children to prepare them for the future. These are skills which the children will need to be adept at to face the ever changing world of education and technology. A study says that 1 in 8 jobs in 2020 will require engineering skills or engineering background. We must face the reality of the tectonic shift in change in requirement of skills, knowledge and the challenges that these children will face when they step out in the global world.

We must prepare the road so that each and every child and not only an elite few, get a fair opportunity to being exposed to this emerging trends at an earlier age and this can seep into his or her mind during their schooling years.

For all the comparision of making Mumbai to Shanghai, One of my partners has visited schools in China and he was amazed at the infrastructure they have committed to these kind of new themes. Rooms and resources dedicated to S.T.E.M and other emerging technologies etc which would put any one of our engineering colleges to shame, maybe even the top dogs themselves. They have realized and have committed in creating the infrastructure for more developmental work, from a nation of copy cats they will become a nation of innovators and developers.

China is not alone, Finland, which is supposed to have the best educational policy in the world has moved to a theme based learning from a subject based learning.

To create the next Google, Apple and Amazon, we must create Tinker Labs, S.T.E.M Labs and Technology Museums in all schools so that children can get exposed, play, understand and appreciate these technologies and developments without fear. They can experiment and the schools can be an early incubator of ideas.

Educators and concerned authorities must understand the urgency and importance of this idea and must facilitate the creation of this infrastructure.

To end, it would be appropriate to put a quote from Dr. Seuss “ How did it get so late so soon ? its night before its afternoon. December is her before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon.” We must wake up before it gets late too soon.

– Kaushal Chheda, Partner, iRobokid.

Mumbai Airport – 1974 – a couple of young men were going to America for further studies, clutching the RBI endorsed passport, accompanied by the entire family, neighbors and loved ones some of them red eyed from crying and worrying all night, garlanded, red tikkaoed and carrying the auspicious coconut.

Circa 2014 – airport is teeming with young boys and girls, accompanied by friends, casually dressed, confident and well aware of crossing the seven seas for an “ American University “ education and experience. Some will never come back, some will be grudgingly forced to return, some will make it big and some will live a better life in an unknown place and make it home.

Ever wondered, what drives this huge migration of people, what makes parents even with a heavy heart, send their only daughter or son to a country so far away, why everyone is willing put everything at stake for this. Why some just want to bolt out of the door?

Don’t look too far for the answer, just visit any of our schools / colleges. Just visit a ongoing class or leaf thru the text book of any standard and you will have the answer. Is it our students ? Is it our teachers ? Is it our mindset ? Is it our education system ? The same children excel in schools and colleges abroad. There are countless examples of some of the best teachers, management gurus abroad being from India. So what gives ??

The findings will be shocking, barring a few modern day “ expensive “ schools and “ hard to get into “ colleges, most of the other education syllabus, methodologies and paedogogy being used is probably around 10 to 15 years behind in terms of relevance and application.

Globally the push towards relevant & practical education, S.T.E.M education and embracing technology has reached a crescendo, while here unfortunately here we have not even hit the first note on the first chord.

Skill Development may be the most overused and under appreciated word since the verdict of the general election verdict 2014. India is lucky to have leader who understands that this is the need of the hour and is making the right noises in the right direction.

When the Honorable Prime Minister, spoke on competing with China, he spoke on Speed / Scale and Skill, trust me, forget China, we need this to compete with us, to compete with ourselves and to stop this massive brain drain. We need an education syllabus which at its very heart needs to be relevant , STEM focused and which can empower our teachers to bring out the best in our youth. We need our educations systems to be more learning oriented then result oriented . We need the institutions to embrace technology and modern day teaching methodologies which mean much more than a smart board and a projector. We need subjects like Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, 3D Printing, Biomechanics and Scratch Programming to be introduced at younger levels. This will create awareness, generate interests and also expose these children to technologies & teachings of the future.

We need the education program to be robust, flexible and more practical, we need this at an affordable cost and we need this change at breathtaking speed so that we can cover the difference of 15 years of back dated education and make our children ready for 2030.

The choice is clear, Unbound & Outbound – one frees from bonds and bristles towards a new and promising future which can seep down to the bottom of the pyramid, the other is an escape route for an elite few and like one said in a movie “ Lighting a light in stranger’s home “. The choice is for India to make.

– Kaushal Chheda, Partner, iRobokid.