Child coding instructors can help you master coding in only one hour!
By Chi Yan Ng
Are you reading this article using your mobile phone? Are you using the internet to search for a relaxing place to enjoy your weekend? Are you using your smart TV to watch Netflix regularly?
Do you realize computers are actually following codes when performing these tasks for us? And, do you know computer coding is actually simple, easy to learn and helpful at the same time?
Our world is changing, day by day. Technology has taken up a significant part of our lives, and so many jobs can now be performed by robots and machines, whose actions are guided by lines of code. It is expected that in the future, being able to code will be equivalent to being able to read and write.. Therefore, everyone should learn at least the basics of computer coding.
Hour of Code is a worldwide organization conducting one hour coding activities to teach people of all ages how to code. Their aim is to show the world that anybody can learn the basics of computer science, as long as they spend just one hour practicing and developing their skills. As of March 6, 2023, over 1.6 billion people have participated in Hour of Code’s events.
In Hong Kong, the Hour of Code (“HoCHK”) is run by Dr Ray Cheung who is keen and enthusiastic about promoting computer coding in Hong Kong, in particular, young children and families. In addition to teaching children computer coding, he is more than happy to step back, and allow experienced kids to teach less experienced ones. In his coding instructor program, Dr Ray recruits and trains child instructors and tutors, organizes events to let them lead classes while providing assistance and support. I recently interviewed him and here is what he says about Hour of Code.
1. Why do you run the Hour of Code?
It is because we are living in a digitized world, with a lot of innovation and software. No matter where we go, and what we do, we cannot get away from using the software. Instead of being a user, I strongly believe that understanding what software is and how it works, enables us to become safer when it comes to using technology, and enables us to become more creative! Coding is a basic life skill that every one of us shallacquire.
2. What can people expect from HoCHK in the future?
Hour of Code hopes to teach students how to code in a regular school setting, because current generations are much more interested in learning coding. We hope that the HoC model can create a cross-school learning circle in HK, empower every student learner and promote active sharing and peer-to-peer support model for lifelong learning. In addition to young learners, the HoC model targets young adults, parents, and even grand-parents to promote lifelong learning. Since the debugging process in learning to code is tedious, the HoC community also empowers positive value education, and enriches family bonding.
The program Dr Ray set up was a big success, especially the TinkerCAD classes co-hosted by Hour of Code and the Hong Kong Science Museum. Since July 2022, child instructors and tutors have been running more than 16 classes for over 300 families to master TinkerCAD coding within one hour.
The child tutors, instructors and their parents shared with us their thoughts about the recent events.
Raise, who joined HoCHK as a tutor for a second time, said, “The class ran smoothly under the leadership of the young teacher. The most memorable part to me was that after completing the 3D rocket, everyone accepted the teacher’s challenge to code the rocket to blast off into the sky. I teamed up with a family and we figured out how to group objects and then apply the action command to raise the rocket.”
Colin and Corey, who held a class for the first time, said, “we had to learn to be patient, calm and more observant. We had to be prepared to adjust our pace of teaching and to elaborate more about the code. It’s harder than being tutors because we have to make sure all the participants understand the content we are teaching, enjoy the session, and are able to put the knowledge into practice after the lesson. Having said that, the roles of a tutor and an instructor are equally important, as the tutors need to check on the progress of each participant because the participants are varied from different ages, learning abilities and problem solving skills. Nonetheless, it was a great experience overall. Thanks Hour of Code Hong Kong for giving us a platform and opportunity to learn and teach coding. With time and practice, we will be more confident in our roles.”
Kingsley is one of the experienced instructors who coaches other children to instruct the class. He noted, “I appreciated the poise and confidence displayed from Colin and Corey when they were teaching their first coding class. They teached with bright voices and made their explanations simple and easy to understand. Their class was very successful, as all students managed to follow their code and create a 3D rocket in just one hour. I am very much looking forward to their future classes.”
Gordon, another first time instructor at HoCHK, explained, “ I’ve learnt a lot from this class, whether it’s being patient with students that are unfamiliar with coding, or helping people solve challenges with their code. Moreover, arising problems could be a tiny error or a huge mistake, and I had to help them recover and move forward. It was truly an extremely rewarding experience to me. I must thank Dr Ray for giving me this chance and also my amazing tutors who made teaching a lot easier for me. Hopefully I can see more of you attend HoCHK lessons in the future!”
Lucas, a student in Gordon’s class thanked him, “for showing us how to design the 3D rocket and plan in the preparation stage. We liked his humorous style of teaching. We would like to join class again when he is a tutor.” Lucas’ mother supplemented, “we are thankful for the tutoring opportunities provided by Dr Ray! What the kids learned during this experience was more than coding. Teaching is fundamentally a process of high level learning including planning, communication and problem solving. I was very impressed watching the kids patiently attend to others’ needs, and work with each other when facing difficult challenges. We are looking forward to participating in more events in the future.”
Parents were also very excited about HoCHK and how coding can benefit their children’s lives. Milton’s mother said, “Sincere thanks to Dr Ray for promoting programming in Hong Kong! Through online coding sessions during the period of severe epidemic and the physical classes now, Milton has been learning programming at HoCHK for three years and he is in love with programming. Thank you Dr Ray for setting up a platform allowing children to take roles as teachers and teaching assistants, so that they can enjoy learning to code through teaching others. I would like to thank child instructor Gordon for his detailed guidance during the last class.”
On a recent occasion, I joined as one of the child tutors for the first time, and enjoyed the experience very much. Before the class, I was told that the class is about designing a 3D rocket using an online software, TinderCAD. I thought that it would be a piece of cake as I had used this online software before at school. However, when I got the training materials, I found that my original knowledge of using TinkerCAD was very basic. The coding tool in TinderCAD is much more advanced than I learned in school. I practiced creating the rocket a couple times at home, and learned how to perform the steps efficiently so that I could help others complete the course. Right before the class, instructors and tutors would meet up to discuss the code and order of events, and a clear briefing by Dr Ray was also provided.
During class, the child instructor presented the materials to let students follow and copy what they see into TinkerCAD in order to successfully create the 3D rocket. Although the materials are created to inform students, on some occasions, a few students would fall behind and not be able to continue following the instructions. This is when tutors, like me, will then assist them and make sure they catch up quickly so that they can move on to the next steps.
I enjoyed helping Dr Ray, the instructors, and the other tutors . I learned so much from this experience, and now want to participate in even more events. Through the interactions with students, by listening, studying, clarifying and explaining, I assisted several of them in solving the problems they were facing. I learnt how to communicate with a wide range of people, from young children who struggled to comprehend the materials, to adults who didn’t understand how to maneuver the blocks forming the code or had trouble understanding the specific data provided in the materials. Along with this, there were a wide range of experioenced coders participating in the event, and I had to change the way I taught them to make sure they understood how to do specific steps. Some coders were more advanced, and went on to code on their own, while others found it challenging to follow the code the instructors had prepared. I also learnt how to communicate with the other tutors and instructors, to make sure everyone had plenty of time to follow along, and was not rushed to complete certain steps. Furthermore, I learnt a lot about coding in general, and improved my own coding skills while helping those around me.
After this class, I am inspired and want to design a new topic for a future class. I also want to be an instructor and to be in-charge of a class in the future. Maybe soon, you will see my project conducted in an Hour of Code class!
If you would like to learn more about the HoCHK activities provided by Dr Ray in Hong Kong, please visit https://hourofcode.com/hk!