Expanding programming education

 Google CEO Eric Schmidt could be seen on the campus of the Hiro Gakuen middle and high school in Hiro, Tokyo. This was because Google partnered with our NPO “CANVAS” to create a program to support programming education called “Let’s get used to computers.”

 The goal was to teach programming to children between 6 and 15 years of age. We used the programming language “Scratch” on palm-sized inexpensive computers called Raspberry Pi. The goal is to use 5000 Raspberry Pi devices to give 25,000 students experience in programming.

 “Scratch” is a programming language that was developed while I was at the MIT Media Lab by Professor Mitchel Resnick with cooperation from the Ogawa Center (a children’s research group). With current president Ms. Nanako Ishido, since 2002 when CANVAS was founded we have presented programming workshops to 300,000 students. Now we have received the cooperation of Google, so things are really about to get off the ground.

 Chairman Ishido said, “In the age of information, children need the powers of creativity and communication.  Programming education is useful in this area. We are often asked if we want to produce programmers, but that is not the case. Through programming, we want to encourage children to think logically, to develop problem-solving skills, and to have the ability to create through cooperation. We want to create an environment not where knowledge is “taught” to them, but where they can experience and learn by themselves.”

 The objective is not to teach “to” program, rather to teach “through” programming to make something new.

 With programming one can make anime, games, and robots. One can make an idea take shape. Programming is a tool and a method of creation. It should be a basic skill along with reading, writing, and arithmetic.

 Steve Jobs once said, “I believe that every American should learn to program.” It’s a basic skill that everyone should have. Japan’s growth strategy finally includes the promotion of programming and IT skills in the general education curriculum.

 The time has finally come.