What does it really mean to us in the real world? In the virtual world, it means restart when an application is unable to process on the computer. Or it can also serve as purpose of troubleshooting or debugging our computer when it has “froze”.

 

In today’s context, how do we restart? 2020 is the most unforgettable year for many if not all I am sure. After being hit by COVID-19 globally, there was a massive shift to online instruction. Educators and parents realized that going forward, now that school boards have invested heavily in remote learning it has become a core aspect of education.

 

As we start to lean towards tech and restarting kids who are developing towards this direction, is computer the first thing that we need when teaching kids to code or when embarking into the tech education?

 

Success in teaching children coding is not about choosing the most cutting-edge technologies or programs. It is about all the learning that is critical as a foundation. Children must learn to locate and orient themselves and other objects in space, and how to visualize such movements and relationships. They must also learn how to communicate and how to solve problems.

 

In our previous articles we shared about computational thinking. To learn computational thinking, children must learn to make their abstract problems, knowledge, processes and solutions clear and systematic enough so that they are available to other students, open for discussion and debate. They must learn how to express and share reflective thinking processes through spoken and written words and diagrams.

 

Games such as four squares, hopscotch and Simon Says are about learning spatial orientation or visualization in relationship with others and how to follow instructions.

For young children, computational thinking activities begin in concrete and tactile ways. For example, children can be instructed to make a shape, pattern or letter on grid paper.

 

At the end of the day, today’s creative problem solvers will be the true powerful technologies of the future. Is it time to review our Ctrl Alt Del function?