More kids to learn
programming in
Smart Nation push
MOE to encourage schools to
join
Code for Fun enrichment
scheme
Yu Neng Primary School pupils learning basic coding
skills as part of a Code for Fun enrichment programme started as a
trial by the Ministry of Education. -- PHOTO: YU NENG
PRIMARY SCHOOL
By AMELIA TENG
FOR most people, computer code is a foreign language - something
that only geeks understand.
But a new national programme is looking to turn
code into kids' play through the use of simple logical reasoning
and animation.
Some 12 secondary schools and four primary schools
were part of a trial this year by the Ministry of Education (MOE)
to teach students simple programming.
These schools include Cedar Primary School, St
Joseph's Institution Junior, Bukit View Secondary School and
Springfield Secondary School.
MOE said it will encourage more schools to join the
enrichment programme, known as Code for Fun, next year.
The scheme for upper primary pupils and secondary
school students aims to promote interest and develop talent in
computing.
Under the programme, students tinker with Scratch,
a programming language developed by the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), which allows people to create their own
interactive stories, video games and animations using code.
The trial is part of a national push to make
Singapore a Smart Nation, which uses technology to make life better
and more convenient for people.
At last week's launch of the Smart Nation vision,
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had urged schools to expose students
to IT and basic coding skills.
A spokesman for MOE said students currently pick up
coding through elective subjects, co-curricular activities such as
infocomm clubs, and enrichment classes.
Mrs Clara Lim-Tan, principal of Yu Neng Primary
School, which took part in Code for Fun this year, said its
objective was to "demystify the notion that coding is
challenging".
It also exposed pupils to "the use of algorithms
and logical reasoning to solve problems by breaking them down in a
fun way", she said.
For 10 weeks from July to October, the school,
which counts infocomm technology as one of its strengths, had hour-
long coding lessons for the Primary 4 cohort. Pupils were given a
task to write codes to create and animate a story.
Along the way, they learnt how to follow
instructions in translating algorithms into programs on computing
devices. They also learnt to detect and correct errors in
algorithms.
"They learnt the importance of being creators,
rather than just consumers of technology," said Mrs Lim-Tan.
Her school, which hopes to extend the programme to
all levels eventually, will continue the lessons for pupils in
Primary 4 and 5 next year.
Top of the news, The Straits Times, Monday, December 1 2014, Pg
A2