91% of parents want their child to
learn more computer science in the future. – Google Gallup Poll
Since childhood, my mother and
father had encouraged me to get into engineering or medicine. My high school
experiences of dissecting frogs had made it clear that I was not meant for life
sciences. Though I didn’t know much about engineering, I decided to explore the
shining light of this promising career. Soon I discovered that engineering was
not just one thing, there were many kinds of engineering …there was
electronics, electrical, computer science, mechanical, and so much more. Computer
Science sounded interesting … the problem was - I had never seen a computer let
alone receiving any early experiences with computers. This was not the time of
Google or any internet search for that matter. Research meant finding and
talking with people or sifting through thick books in the library. My mother
and father did not have science or engineering background, so they couldn’t help
me directly. But, they kept finding people who knew something and who were willing
to speak with me. One of those contacts was a lady who worked in an office that
had recently bought a computer. She had seen the computer and seen the people
who worked with it. Her advice changed my world:
“Computers need air conditioning and
people who work with computers work in AC offices. This seems like a woman-friendly
work environment.”
For a soon-to-be woman in
engineering in the hot climate of Delhi with no AC anywhere she lived or studied,
this sounded like a good start. Computer Science engineering it was for me!
Soon after, I started to really
understand the significance and the impact that computing could make in the
world. As a computer science graduate, my skills were in great demand. I
started my career working on cutting edge technologies with a multi-national
firm. I was creating, I was innovating and I was impacting people all around
the world.
Fast forward to today; computing
is even more pervasive, computing jobs still on the rise and high paying. But,
where are the graduates?
71% of all new jobs in STEM are in
computing. 8% of STEM graduates are in Computer Science. – Bureau of Labor
Statistic, National Center for Education Statistics
Computer Science graduates can earn
40% more than a college graduate and almost 3 times more than a high school
graduate. – Brookings Institute
Our children are savvy computer
users. What it, they progressed beyond being merely computer users? What if,
they could understand the creative powers of their devices? What if, they could
learn of ways to express their creativity using their devices? What if, they
could create something using the computer?
Majority of the jobs today
require some computing irrespective of the industry. Computer Science is a
foundation skill. Parents and academia agree:
More than 4 in 5 parents and more
than 6 in 10 teachers, principals and superintendents say computer science
learning opportunities are equal or more important than required courses.
–Google Gallop Poll
At STEM For Kids, we engage
children in pre-K, elementary and middle schools with engineering, computing
and automation. Specifically, our computer science related programs provide a
Computer Science Roadmap offering a hands-on minds-on progression from user to innovator
through the following milestones:
·
Content
Consumer
·
Content Organizer
·
Computer
Science Literate
·
Creator
·
Innovator
Along this roadmap, not only do
the children learn about problem solving, algorithmic thinking and programming
but also acquire and sharpen their 4C skills of Communication, Collaboration,
Critical Thinking and Creativity. Experiences and examples like these abound:
While learning computer programming,
a child expresses her creativity as a game with characters and landscapes as
unique as she is. There are polka dots on her buildings and flowers on the
street where her equally appealing character goes on a mission to drive villains
out of her imagined and created digital world.
While learning about website
designing, a young lady puts imagination of her future store into words and
pictures as she designed the digital web pages for her store. An artist in
making or perhaps an entrepreneur?
A group of children collaborate to make
robotic animals leading up to their own petting zoo!
Tell us your thoughts about computer science for children.
By: Moni Singh, Founder and CEO, STEM for
Kids. STEM for Kids® provides
educational enrichment in Robotics, Engineering and Computer Programming for
children ages 4 - 14 through camps, afterschool programs, in-school field
trips, workshops in schools and outside community spaces. National and
international franchise opportunities are available for single and multi-units.
Entrepreneurs with a passion to impact their community through education can
learn more and apply at the STEM For Kids website, www.stemforkids.net/franchise.