By Elvis Eromosele
Nearly everyone agrees that the world as we know it changing rapidly. The change is driven largely by the growing pervasiveness of technology and the increasing number of new applications.
This change is expected to expand into the foreseeable future. Every industry, sector and job will continue to rely more and more on technology to increase efficiency, improve productivity and boosts profitability.
Experts indicate that this massive invasion of technology is the prelude to the emerging digital society. So going forward, we are not going to see less but more and more infusion of the digital. And the underlying platform for this all encompassing trend is coding.
Coding is the primary method for allowing intercommunication between humans and machines. Early coding was done through physical punch cards and similar methods. Now it is direct programming.
To ensure that Nigeria and Nigerians are not left behind it is imperative that children be provided access to coding know-how. It is a skill for today and the future. It is a digital skill. It is a life skill.
Studies indicate that one in four jobs in 2020 will require some level of coding skill. That is 25 percent of ALL jobs! The job of preparing the future generations is urgent. It is one that must be done. And we must begin now!
The government alone cannot do this. Private organizations and individuals must become involved.
While there are several initiatives to get children to code across Nigeria, #Coding 4KidsNG seeks to provide to practical coding classes to children in and around suburbs (low income residential areas). The special classes have held in Alimosho, Ajah and a repeat class in Alimosho that ended March 17, 2018. Ikorudu, Ajegunle, Badagry and indeed other states lined up for the immediate future.
According to Elvis Eromosele, Chief Content Officer, De Royale Hall Resources, promoter of initiative in the emerging digital society coding would become as basic as reading and writing. So this is time to turn on the lights for kids, particularly, those in low cost areas, equipping them with life skills.
He noted that kids today are wired for the digital age. They are wired to consume digital tech but they can also be prepared to begin to produce digital tech.
Coding he explained can strengthen your kids logical thinking, improve their problem solving skills and boost their readiness for the digital future.
This is the very essence of #Coding4KidsNG, to help kids ‘come to grips’ with the emerging digital world. Through this project we are equipping the future generation to think about the world in a new and exciting context.
If the future is digital then teaching kids to Code is the secret to reigning in the digital age. We believe that children have the brightest minds. Their hands might be small but they have great minds.
On the experience, Eromosele noted that the project, six Saturdays of instructing kids to code per season, was highly enlightening. “Typically, by the end of the third week, the kids were creating basic websites, and understood the concept of mobile apps design, development and deployment. The children began to code with minimal supervision by the end of the third week.”
According to him, it takes about two to three months to learn coding (programming) at a level that the learner can work with, noting that ‘#Coding4KidsNG,’ is the just first step in turning on the light for children across the country.”
Godfrey Adejumoh, the brain behind the project, posited that there is a need for government to support efforts to bring coding classes to children not just across the Nigeria. He urged the government to set up a centre where kids can access computer systems, and acquire at least three hours of lessons a week, plus some measure of follow up and mentoring to keep them in check.
He noted that with coding, “we can unleash the creative energies of the young people in across Nigeria, and help them to discover the beauty of storytelling using coding. Coding is the future. That future must begins now!”