Newfoundland teachers learn coding and what it could mean for the next generation

If you asked kids how their teachers spend their summer vacations, they probably wouldn't guess "pretending to be a blindfolded robot." But that is exactly how about 70 teachers in St. John's spent one one Tuesdayin July.

The teachers were participating in a workshop offered byKids CodeJeunesse,in partnership with Lighthouse Labs, to help them bring coding into their classrooms.

Coding is a technical language, of sorts, that is used to programwebsites and appsand other computer software essentially, programming.

As part of theworkshop, teachers were blindfolded and asked to pretend to be robots, while others in the workshop had to give instructions to leadthe "robots" toa ping-pong ball.

"We start out with everyone having fun, everyone laughing, making a lot of mistakes, and really seeing that this can be as fun as just playing a game,"Juliet Waters, senior education director with Kids CodeJeunesse, told CBC Radio'sSt. John's Morning Show.

About 70teachers attended the Code Create Teach workshop in St. John's onTuesday, and there is a long waiting list for future workshops. Another workshop with about 50 teachers was held in Ganderon Thursday. Kids CodeJeunessealso held a coding workshopfor kids at the JohnsonGeo Centre in St. John's on Saturday, with another planned for July28.

The popularity of the workshops is a reflection of the increasing priority placed on codingin Canadian schools, including those here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In April, the provincial government announced $400,000for in-school coding education and resources.At the time of the announcement, then-education minister Dale Kirby said the money was part of a $1-million pot of cash meant to introduce students to the subject.

'Really surprisingly fun'

Waterscame to coding later after starting their careers in other fields.

She previously worked asa journalist and writer andbegan to learn coding with her son when he was 11.

She was surprised to discover that coding was creative, like doing puzzles,but making something at the same time. Those experiences, and her own coding education that followed, led her to start Kids CodeJeunesse.

"I just found it so fascinating and fun, really surprisingly fun," Waters said.

"I just really wanted to bring that to to other people, to other parents, to other women, to other journalists."

DonBurks, head instructor at Lighthouse Labs, also came to coding from a different directionas a musician. He had an interest in computers, something he saw as a hobby, but also fell in love with coding over time.

"Kind of same as Juliet, I discovered the fun and I discovered the creativity and the passion for making things, and being able to solve problems and share my solution with other people," Burke told the Morning Show.

"So my hobby and my passion sort of swapped places, and this became my career."

Learning how to think like a programmer

Now they're spreading that knowledge and passion through Code Create Teach, and helping educators bring coding into their own classrooms.

The teachers taking the Code Create Teach workshops aren't necessarily science-focused, or knowledgeable about code when they come in. They tend to beelementary school generalists, andabout 70 per cent of the teachers are very new to coding while the rest have some experience or exposure,Burkssaid.

"They're just very, very curious about this, and how to bring it to their kids, and how to make sure that they don't get too stuck in their classroom full of kids that are often learning it faster than they are," Waters said.

But coding education isn't only about learning programming languages like Python or HTML. It's also about teaching kids how to think like a programmer.

One of the easier ways to do that is through computational thinking, which is introduced in the workshops, Burke said.

"Alot of people get apprehensive because it has that word 'compute' on it," he said.

"But really what we're doing is showing a problem-solving method, that's all it is."

That's what was behind the blindfolded robot exerciseteaching those basic problem-solving skills in ways that translate directly to technology makes it easier to make the jump to coding, Burkesaid.

"You give them the basic skills for the problem solving, and then you just give them tools to be able to do it quicker, faster, more accurately."

Those skills arein demand in Newfoundland and Labrador. A2015 study by theInformation and Communications Technology Council predicted that by next year, the province will have 3,800 unfilled jobs in the information and communications technology sector.

Today's kindergarten students may be a couple decades away from filling those empty positions, but getting their teachers excited about coding is one step in getting their generation ready for the tech jobs of the future.

"For the most part, what we're looking to do is kind of ignite the same passion that we have for doing this and teaching this and showing them how they can bring it into their practice every day," Burke said.

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