I decided to try out coding with Hour of Coding. I clicked on the lesson that caught the attention of my inner-child: Barbie You Can Be Anything by Tynker. I just know that 8-year-old Aili would have loved this.
There were 6 different sections within the game with different themes. I chose the cake decorating one because it interested me the most. In hindsight, I probably should have just gone in order instead of skipping to the cake decorating level (with was level 6/6). I wasn’t too initially worried about the difficultly because this program is designed for children. Turns out, it can still be a bit of a challenge. 
The lesson started relatively simple. It was definitely at the level that an elementary student could follow with a little assistance here or there from a teacher.
Near the end, when the player was able to use their creative freedom to decorate the cake, I found the tutorial to be a bit tricky to follow. I am not sure if I am just really bad at coding or if it was too challenging. Perhaps, it was a combination between skipping the 5 previous chapters and my own user error. I learned to take things one step at a time and not be overconfident in my own ability, even when I’m doing something aimed at children.
I also found the program website to be a bit dated. The graphics were a bit blurry and it overall had a bit of 2010 internet aesthetic. That’s alright though, I think I’m just a bit picky about how things look.
While it wasn’t my favourite program, I know that it is something that I would have really enjoyed as a child. I would have loved feeling like I was creating my own game and having that creative control.
I think that coding is a great skill and something that a lot of students should learn how to do. After all, the future is likely going to be even more online than it is today. However, I honestly don’t think that it is something that should be mandatory for everyone to learn. I see it more of a niche skill that only computer engineers or game programmers need to masters.
Be First to Comment