Varun Kohli is Co-Founder and CEO of Coding Blocks. He has been associated with the Software industry for more than 12 years and is an expert in the EdTech space. He has worked on multiple large scale applications and has piloted several Startups. He now dedicates his energy and experience to the design of Programs & business in Coding Blocks.
Coding is the most desired skill of the 21st century. Considered as one of the highest paying and stable careers, traditionally Coding is opted by many students at a College level. There exists a general perception that coding is the forte of the ‘Gifted learners’ and cannot be taken up by average students.
Before anything else, we need to address what is Coding and how does one start learning it. Well, simply put, Coding is a way to make software and hardware act upon your instructions. There is a particular way to do this and learning that way is learning to code. It is naturally logical in nature, and hence learning to code teaches good logical ability to learners. In addition, it teaches how to solve a problem by breaking its complexity to a simpler structure and making deductions from it.
According to the New Education Policy (NEP), introducing coding and enhancing the exposure to technology at a young age will show the students a path to a new world of innovation and creativity. The current curriculum is not enough to prepare our students for a market which is going to be completely dynamic in the coming years. Coding is a boon for students as it will teach them logical thinking and problem solving from an earlier stage. Coding is a game changer in the education system. We will see a new generation that will be using analytical thinking to solve problems. In India, it is the perfect time to teach the children about new age learning which will help them tremendously in the jobs sector.
Programming in India is typically selected by students at the higher education level- colleges, universities and the like. Even here, the syllabus of universities or colleges are in urgent need of an overhaul as the current syllabi presents a big challenge to students who need extra hand holding to make sure they are able to clear the placement drives of good IT companies. The key to success is to be aligned with the industry needs at all times. Students need to brace themselves with latest tech stacks and keep practicing coding problems on a regular basis. Participation in community and Open Source are also good means to stay aligned.
Students known to possess the Coding skill and programming generally get a higher score in Mathematics, better abstract thinking and confidence. In the recent past, newer and effective means to teach coding have come up, especially for School students at early ages. There are well recognized institutes that teach children to learn programming in the enjoyable method through developing games, animations, websites, and applications.
With so many options available for these courses, it is difficult to choose the correct institute or learning center for young children. It is important to consider key factors before choosing a platform which include an institute offering an updated curriculum, skilled faculty with hands-on practice and enjoyable learning.
Some of the popular courses in Coding include Visual programming (Scratch/Code.ORG), Python, Web development, Robotics and Data Sciences. Many websites are teaching coding to kids through Blocks, popularly referred to as Block or Visual programming. Few other websites offer courses for higher grade School students. Some of the established websites are teaching Robotics, Python, Block programming and more for free while others are offering a 1:1 mentorship model and charge hourly fees.
All in all, competition is heating up day by day and newer jobs and businesses in future would demand many more skills with creativity. With extra automation, more and more people would be required to learn coding so that human growth and progress is achieved. It is henceforth required that we train our students into coding. It is not necessary that everyone should take up a career in coding, however, learning coding would help us in a sharper younger generation and would ensure the human race progresses ahead of time.