Robotic Coding Trainings help Children
Cyprus International University (CIU) Faculty of Education, Department of Basic Education Chair Assist. Prof. Dr. Sarem Özdemir pointed out the importance of adding coding to children's skills in today's world stating that coding, in line with the technological developments around the world, contributes to many fields from analytical thinking to creative thinking, from problem-solving to team skills, and hence stands out as an effective skill.
Özdemir said coding means writing a series of statements for the computer to make it perform specific operations, adding “When coding was mentioned in the 20th century, only computer programmers came to mind. But in the 21st century, coding is covering all fields as an important skill.”
Assist. Prof. Dr. Özdemir pointed out that coding has been included in school curricula as of pre-school in many developed countries and said, “Technology in the digital age is based on computer programming. This is a proof of the need for coding skills.”
Emphasizing that coding is accepted as an important skill around the world, Özdemir shared the knowledge that "Currently, coding is considered to be a basic skill along with problem solving and analytical thinking skills all over the world".
Assist. Prof. Dr. Özdemir also stated that one of the most important aims of education is to enable children to unleash their potential that will help them toward getting a career befitting their capabilities , and thus children who add coding to their skills have a higher chance of success in their chosen career field.
Existing in this changing world and being strong and powerful, have come to be synonymous with creating technology. This approach has made it compulsory to integrate coding skills to school curricula.
Özdemir also said coding can start as early as pre-school: “For example; coding exercises can start at the age of 3 or 4 with activities where arrows are used to walk a cat to the milk source on checkered paper.”
Children use concepts like right and left to lead a person to the exit who got lost in a labyrinth drawn in a primary school classroom and this can serve as an example of this kind of coding activity. Özdemir said, “Coding also includes error analysis. For example, not being able to find the exit in the maze requires the person to find a new path by analyzing the previous attempt. In short, coding can be taught by using sorting, comparison, spatial expressions, etc. that are suitable to the level of children of all ages.”
Assist. Prof. Dr. Özdemir, in conclusion, said our aim today is to raise global citizens, and in order to reach this objective, it is of great importance for educational authorities to take coding seriously and include it in the curriculum.