Win With Codes (School Arme)
It is no longer new to hear the word 'coding'. To code means to give a set of instructions to computer in order for the computer to perform a task. Coding therefore is synonymous with programming. Introducing coding to learners at an early stage has the potential of increasing the computer science workforce, bridging the gender gap in STEM disciplines and increasing the academic outcome of learners. It also has the added advantage of making learning fun whilst boosting school attendance rates.
As a facilitator of 21st century learning and Juvenile Mind Therapist, I decided to leverage on the Africa Code Week to launch a coding class with my pupils. Challenges? Of course they were numerous. We had to tackle them one after the other. First, we teach the necessary computer basics. Second, we teach the basics of coding using Hour of Code template and finally we introduce ourselves to scratch. Our direct output is a game which we usually share on the teachers' social media handles.
The first set of participants were nine in number and two of them performed exceptionally well to merit an Hour of Code certificate. The programme ran for 30 minutes after school for four days in a week through four school weeks. This made a total of 8 hours investment by the learners, their teachers, and their parents. We tagged the programme : Win with codes.
