• LEARNING TO CODE CAN BE VERY EMPOWERING.

• ONE LEARNS CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING.

• IT TEACHES PERSEVERANCE AND SELF-CONFIDENCE.

A young girl told me about her recent trip to Texas where she attended a Lego Robotics competition. She was there to watch her brother’s team which she has now joined. She is excited to learn Java programming and also compete next year.

Currently my grand daughter is in Denmark to compete in the First Lego League Open European Championship. She is a member of a team from Australia.

LEARNING TO CODE:

• can be fun and engaging;

• teaches responsibility and hard work;

• is a way to express creativity;

• builds confidence, and

• is a very empowering skill.

CODING  ALSO OFFERS:

• the tools to create a world of limitless possibilities;

• a means of building your own paths and realizing solutions in your own way, and

• development of critical thinking skills and problem solving processes.

This is not only important in computer science, but also in life as it teaches you:

• how to look at the bigger picture;

• to break down big challenges into smaller and more manageable tasks.

This discussion brought to mind a TED Talk entitled. “Teach girls bravery, not perfection” by Reshma Saujani.

In this talk she outlines why teaching girls to code, teaches them bravery.

Reshma states that we need to show them that “they will be loved and accepted not for being perfect but for being courageous.“

When we teach girls that they do not need to be perfect, this will build a movement of young women who are brave. They learn to keep trying and learn perseverance.

As a result they will build a better world for everyone.

You can view Reshma’s TED Talk below.

In our coaching we also can teach these soft skills. This will assist our youth to cope with the rapidly changing world.