Programming toys: programmer training starts from the doll
We need to demystify a profound world and help children eliminate their fears: the computer is not exclusive to geeks and geeks, but also belongs to everyone.
Sunday morning saw me up early to try out an interesting new tech toy.It is called Cubetto, comes from a London start-up and is a beautifully made kit to introduce children from the age of three to computer coding.
One Sunday morning, I got up early to try a new interesting high-tech toy. This toy is called Cubtto, from a start-up company in London, and is a beautifully crafted toy set designed to introduce computer programming to children over three years old.
"Teach your child to code before they can read," Cubetto's publicity proclaim Ms. One of the key investors is Randi Zuckerberg, sister of Mark.Made mostly of wood, Cubetto has already won a top British toy award and follows Montessori's early learning principles .
Cubetto’s advertising campaign said: “Teach children to learn programming before they learn to read.” One of the company’s key investors is Mark Zuckerberg’s sister Randi Zuckerberg (Randi Zuckerberg) . The Cubtto, which is mainly made of wood, follows the principles of Montessori's early education and has won one of the highest toy awards in the UK.
I was intrigued to see if Cubetto could, as promised, teach me “a host of programming concepts, including algorithms, the queue, debugging and recursions”.
I am interested to see if Cubetto can teach me "various programming concepts including algorithms, queues, debugging, and recursion" as promised.
I gave up after 30 minutes.It was instruction number seven, on “subroutines”, that did for me.Perhaps I am stupid but, as far as I could tell, it made no sense at all.
After 30 minutes, I gave up. The problem lies in the seventh "subroutine" of the specification. Maybe I am too stupid, but in my opinion, this one is incomprehensible.
That said, I made Cubetto work and I could see the principle behind it.Using coloured blocks, you input a string of commands to send a 10cm by 7cm wheeled cuboid — with a face — trundling ahead, left and right.
Nevertheless, I did play Cubetto, and I can also recognize the principle behind it. Through colored blocks, you can input a series of instructions to a rectangular parallelepiped with a length of 10 cm, a width of 7 cm, a face painted on the front, and wheels underneath to move it forward, left, and right.
I am sure it will stimulate some brilliant three-year-olds but it was one of the dullest toys I have seen.
I am sure it will stimulate some smart three-year-olds, but it is one of the most boring toys I have ever seen.
Worthy, tasteful wooden educational toys rarely impress children and Cubetto is as heart-sinkingly disappointing as any.It is not gaudy enough, not plasticky enough and not loud enough.
Worth and tasteful wooden educational toys rarely impress children. Cubetto, like other similar toys, is disappointing to the point of sadness. It's not fancy enough, it's not plastic, and it's not loud enough.
Toys involving coding are hot this Christmas, as my colleague Emma Jacobs pointed out last week. The better type of toy store or website has a variety of well-presented and exciting offerings from Kano, Sam Labs and Technology Will Save Us in the UK; Little Bits, Tynker and Osmo in the US; Meccano in France; UBTech Robotics in China, and BQin Spain.
As my colleague Emma Jacobs (Emma Jacobs) recently pointed out, the sales of programming toys were very high this past Christmas. A better toy store or website has a variety of exquisite and exciting products-from Kano, Sam Labs and Technology Will Save Us in the UK; LittleBits, Tynker and Osmo in the US; Meccano in France; and Chinese UBTechRobotics to BQ in Spain.
I have my own research to back up Emma’s argument that ambitious parents should not rely on a coding set to give their child a head start in the career scramble.
My own survey can support Emma’s view that parents who are looking for a child to become a dragon should not expect a programming toy to give their children a lead in the starting line of the workplace.
Last Christmas, I gave Kano’s build-your-own-computer outfits — which I love — to two children.I asked last week, as tactfully as I could, how the recipients were getting on with them.
Last Christmas, I gave my favorite Kano computer assembly kit to two children. Recently, I asked the two children how they were playing as tactfully as possible.
“It’s on Ellie’s shelf,” reported Alice, a Whitehall ministerial adviser.“She loves the packaging, she loves the idea that one day she’ll get it out, but for now it remains an exhibition piece.”
“It’s on Ellie’s bookshelf,” Alice, who works as a minister’s adviser in Whitehall, told me. “She likes the packaging design. She likes the idea. One day she will play with it, but It’s still an exhibit.”
“We enjoyed building the computer,” said Neil, a tech entrepreneur. “We built a great 32-bit game, which Alfie played with for about 15 minutes, and then went back to Fifa.I 'm afraid the Kano hasn't emerged since."
"We enjoyed the fun of assembling computers," said tech entrepreneur Neil. "We built a great 32-bit game. Alfie played it for about 15 minutes and then went to play the Fifa football game. I'm afraid I never played Kano again."
I discussed this seemingly inconvenient truth with Alex Klein, the founder and CEO of Kano, at his HQ behind a coffee shop in east London.
At Kano’s headquarters behind a coffee shop in East London, I discussed this seemingly embarrassing truth with Alex Klein, the company’s founder and CEO.
Mr.Klein, a 26-year-old Londoner brought up in Seattle, was surprisingly open about the niche appeal of coding kits.“I know it can be like getting kids interested in broccoli and Brussels sprouts,” he says.
Klein, 26, is a Londoner, but he grew up in Seattle, and he is surprisingly honest about the attractiveness of the programming toy market segment. "I know, it's like getting kids interested in broccoli and Brussels sprouts," he said.
A quarter of children are still using their self-made computers after six months, “but even if they use it just for a day, the moment they make a real, powerful computer in as little as an hour is a big thing for them.
A quarter of the children are still using their own computer after 6 months, "but even if they only use it for one day, the moment they assemble a real, powerful computer in just one hour , It also means a
lot to them." "We are about the demystification and democratisation of an otherwise impenetrable world. The simple putting-together of the computer starts to break the cultural fear that this stuff is for geeks, hackers, techie boffins, not for them."
"We have to demystify and democratize an otherwise unpredictable world. Just assembling a computer can help break a cultural fear that things like computers are geeks, hackers, and technological monsters. Talented people, not normal people like them."
Mr.Klein says that even if children are not interested in technology as a job, “Kano is about capturing what is culturally relevant to kids, like knowing how an app like WhatsApp works and replicating one.”
Klein said that even if children are not interested in taking up a career in technology, "Kano's significance is to capture things related to children at the cultural level, such as understanding how apps such as WhatsApp work and copying them."
He adds: “You have to have exposure to these things as a kid to feel at least conversant with the subject, so you have the ability to talk to others about it.”
He went on to say: "You have to feel these things like a child, at least to the level of familiarity, so that you can discuss it with others."
Indeed, coding lessons for children as young as five are part of the British national curriculum.Introducing the initiative in 2014, Michael Gove, then education minister, said learning how computers work made old-style technology education as obsolete “as teaching children to send a telex or travel in a Zeppelin”.
Indeed, programming courses for 5-year-olds are part of the British national syllabus. When the initiative was announced in 2014, the then Minister of Education Michael Gove said that learning how computers work makes old-style technical education “as outdated as teaching children to telegraph or travel on a zeppelin”.
What nails the case for these toys for me is the desire of education authorities for children to be conversant with coding, even if they do not master it.
Ultimately, the key factor that convinced me that these toys are worthy of recognition is that the education department is eager to familiarize children with programming, even if they cannot fully grasp it.
I had a Philips Electronic Engineer set as a kid.For a couple of years, when school holidays were dragging on, I would build gadgets — radios, intercoMs., crummy electronic organs.
When I was young, I played a set of "Philips Electronic Engineer". In two years, when the vacation made me feel like it was endless, I would make some gadgets by myself—radio, walkie-talkie, crude electronic organ.
I never read the swotty section of the manual that explained what was happening — how the transistors, diodes, resistors and capacitors worked— but exposure to that granular level of electronics has served me well.
I never read the obscure instructions in the operating manual—how transistors, diodes, resistors, and capacitors work—but I have benefited a lot from manipulating these electronic devices.
I am often shocked to find that my contemporaries — who are accomplished in their own field — are illiterate when it comes to technology.
I often find that some of my peers who are quite accomplished in their own field are actually ignorant of technology, which shocks me.
I am still unsure about coding for three-year-olds but, mostly, the children playing with 21st century versions of my Philips kit over this Christmas will gain at least an acquaintance with code, computing, directory trees,subroutines and the rest.I suspect it will serve them well, too.
I'm still not sure about the impact of programming on three-year-old children, but in most cases, children playing with the 21st century version of Philips Electronic Engineer toys at Christmas today can at least understand the code, calculations, directory trees, subroutines, etc. Going on. I think they will also benefit a lot.
Vocabulary summary
start-up ['stɑ:tʌp]
n. Start, initiation, establishment; emerging companies, newly opened companies
adj.
It is called Cubetto, comes from a London start-up and is a beautifully made kit to introduce children from the age of three to computer coding.
This toy is called Cubtto, from a start-up company in London, and is a beautifully crafted toy set designed to introduce computer programming to children over three years old.
intrigue [ɪn’triːg]
n.Conspiracy; Conspiracy; Complicated matters; Fornication
v. Obtained by conspiracy; Arouse the interest of; Conspiracy
I was intrigued to see if Cubetto could, as promised, teach me “a host of programming concepts, including algorithms, the queue, debugging and recursions”.
I am interested to see if Cubetto can teach me "various programming concepts including algorithms, queues, debugging, and recursion" as promised.
niche [niːʃ; nɪtʃ]
n.Niches; Suitable occupations; Profitable market (or situation, etc.), market segments
Mr.Klein, a 26-year-old Londoner brought up in Seattle, was surprisingly open about the niche appeal of coding kits.
Klein, 26, is a Londoner, but he grew up in Seattle, and he is surprisingly honest about the attractiveness of the programming toy market segment.
impenetrable [ɪm'penɪtrəb (ə) l]
adj.Unable to pass; stubborn; incomprehensible; unacceptable
We are about the demystification and democratisation of an otherwise impenetrable world. We are about the demystification and democratisation of an otherwise impenetrable world
.
illiterate [ɪ'lɪt (ə) rat]
adj. illiterate; illiterate; uneducated
n. illiterate
I am often shocked to find that my contemporaries — who are accomplished in their own field — are illiterate when it comes to technology.
I often find that some of my peers who are quite accomplished in their own field are actually ignorant of technology, which shocks me.
