In many Asian countries, teachers and experts from the world of education and work are putting pressure on their respective governments to rejuvenate schools, strengthening the teaching of information technology, understood not only and not so much as the use of computers, but above all as programming. This is what an important initiative such as the "Hour of Code" is trying to do, which will be held during the world information week, from 8 to 15 December, and this year in its second edition.
"Hour of Code", is an international project aimed at students from all over the world to promote knowledge of the rudiments of computer programming. The initiative is sponsored by Code.org, a non-profit organization founded by two brothers, the Americans Hadi and Ali Partovi, which aims to encourage people, and in particular middle and high school students, to expand their computer skills.
The organization and the initiatives it sponsors have received the support and funding of leading figures in the world of high-tech and new technologies, such as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. In fact, if it is true that computer science has now entered almost everywhere among the subjects that are part of the school curriculum, the lessons are generally limited to teaching how to use the most popular programs and very rarely aim to make people understand how a software really works.
Knowing how to use Word, Excel and Photoshop should be just the beginning: kids who spend many years at school should learn to do much more and know how to approach information technology in a creative way. In Asia, where the school system is generally closely tied to traditional curricula and teaching methods, computer science education is rarely present in schools and does not enjoy the same dignity as other curricular subjects.
Clair Deevy, Asia expert for Microsoft, argues that "programming and developing computer skills is essential for young people, regardless of the state in which they live, but it is especially important for Asian countries, which are experiencing a season of intense economic and productive growth”. “For this reason” she adds “we hope that this year the Hour of Code challenge will be taken up by many students”.
Attachments: Asian Correspondent
