Cracking the code: the growing role of coding in education

Coding, used to build software for apps and websites, is increasingly becoming an essential skill in the 21st century.

Correspondingly, educators around the world are incorporating it into their curricula at all levels, even pre-school. The approach in some places is very much ‘you’re never too young to learn’. In this edition of Learning World Maha Barada presents three stories exploring the different ways coding is being learned by young people across the world.

France: easy as child’s play

At a kindergarten in the French city of St Etienne, teachers are using a robot to teacher children about the essential ideas of programming. The scheme capitalises on kids’ love of robots as toys. The most important lesson, the teachers say, is that it’s humans that control all machines, including robots.

Hungary: IT-girls pushing the button

The information technology sector is dominated by males, reinforcing the perception that only men are interested in coding. The Coding Girls init