Why does your child need to know programming?

By Carlos Scovino, Full Stack Developer

I was about to turn 8 years old and I already knew the answer to the long awaited question that was to come from my mom.

“What would you like as a present for your birthday?”

And of course, my mom also knew that I was going to answer that question with thousands of material and extremely expensive things that only a child in his short years of life can name. How financially conscious can a person be at 8 years old, right?

You, the one who’s reading this: what would you have answered at that age?

I imagine my answer wouldn’t have been much different from yours.

“I WANT A LEGO!”

No need to explain what Lego is, nor do I need to justify why it’s possibly the best thing that ever happened in this world. But I’m sure, if you’re not into it nowadays, you’re not aware of how much it has grown these past few years.

(On the right, Sphinx Secret Surprise from the 1998 Adventurers Desert series. On the left, an automated gift-wrapping factory made with Lego by The Brick Wall in 2021).

Who would have imagined that I would end up working on the development of a Lego robot, programming it so that it can carry out the imaginary world of the child that I still am!

The happiness it generates in me is indescribable, but it is also inevitable to feel some nostalgia…

But first things first.

Ever since I was a child, I have liked to create things. Ever since I was a child I have been coming up with new ideas to exploit my creativity. Since I was a child I find satisfaction in seeing the results of something that was made by my own hands.

Architecture was the first career that came to my mind when choosing what to study. I liked working with models; the choice had a certain logic. Eventually I abandoned the idea. I chose to follow the path of my father, the family engineer.

It was an excellent choice. When I started my studies I understood that it was the perfect combination of acquiring new super-appealing knowledge and exploiting all that I’ve liked since I was a child.

Paths of life took me to the software development side. Little by little, I dived into the Internet Of Things (IOT) looking for that connection with the electronics branch, in order to be able to apply the knowledge that I was acquiring in my college years.

One day, I was contacted by PSh to develop an educational platform to teach programming to children. With this job offer, not only did I have the opportunity to get in touch with that 8-year-old Carlos, but also the responsibility of taking on a project that would generate an important change in the education of all children.

But the emotional plus came when I found out that the whole project involved programming a Lego robot as part of the teaching process! Unbelievable!

(Nowadays, Lego robots can be programmed on mobile devices and it’s as easy as drag-and-drop).

Now, having taken this opportunity helped me to understand how advanced everything is… and it’s something that is shown above with the comparative photo: automation is advancing every day.

There are many types of robots that carry out different tasks that, until a few years ago, were done manually. Today we have data on everything and everything is connected, but we rarely realize that, behind that, there’s a person who was able to automate those tasks, to program those robots, to analyze that data… and, for that to happen, people have to be trained, they have to be educated and they have to learn about these issues.

It seems obvious, but the best place to educate future robotics workers is in schools.

When I was in elementary school, the closest I came to making a robot was the time I built a car out of a juice box (and I say that ironically, because one thing has nothing to do with the other). In high school, Physics appeared as a subject and I felt that it was the first time I started to take my first steps in the world of science, but it was no big deal either.

(The closest I ever was in my childhood to programming a Lego, ironically speaking; one would blow through the straw and the balloon would inflate and then propel the cart).

I say all this because, today, programming is already being taught in schools, particularly in high school. Much progress has been made, but there’s still a long way to go. It is extremely necessary that this be the case and that children have the opportunity to familiarize with a new environment that is very technical. In fact, so much so that just a couple of days ago the U.S. Senate authorized funding for new Computer Science legislation and they are currently seeking the attention of their Congress.

“It’s all very nice, Carlos, but which are the benefits of having programming in schools?”

Well… Computational thinking allows the student to approach problem solving from another angle and, likewise, one learns to efficiently exploit their creativity.

In a more practical language, making use of these benefits are the ones that allow, nowadays, to make art from artificial intelligence… From paintings to music; AI is the one that allows to make that wonderful drone show that you like so much to see during the Super Bowl halftime, at the opening act of the World Cup or Olympic Games; AI is the one that allows the creation of filters for Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, etc.

What would have happened if that 8-year-old boy who asked for a Lego box for his birthday had a school class where he had to program and build a robot with blocks?

(On the left, a painting made entirely by artificial intelligence; on the right, a drone show).

Undoubtedly, his time at school would have been a thousand times better, learning and having fun.

Therefore, let’s aim at creating educational platforms (the well-known EdTechs) that incorporate artificial intelligence models that allow students to have a much more enjoyable learning experience. Let’s aim at incorporating gaming in the processes to stimulate learning. Let’s aim not only to improve the content, but also the teaching methods.

Let’s aim at forming minds that are proud of the work they do.