When the internet’s down, the programming must go on.
A small group of kids on their winter break participated in a Vancouver Community Library Hour of Code event Thursday afternoon. Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science designed primarily for children. Participants walk through simple lines of code, usually directing cartoon characters to complete tasks.
But the internet was out at the library Thursday, so experiential learning librarian Jamie Bair had to get creative.
Using yarn and the square pattern of the carpeted floor at the library, Bair blocked off arenas filled with traps — stuffed animals like the “dangerous turtle” and the “dangerous caterpillar” — and bean bags for the children to rescue.
Using slips of paper with the commands “turn right,” “turn left,” and “move forward,” students walked through makeshift mazes of stuffed animals to collect the bean bags and return to the entrance of the arena. The commands mimic how computers are literal when running a program, Bair said.
“This really drives it home with kids who don’t have any experience in computer programming just how code really works,” Bair said.
And increasingly, computer science is becoming a significant portion of students’ curriculum. Just earlier this month, outgoing State Superintendent Randy Dorn and Gov. Jay Inslee adopted the state’s first set of computer science standards for kindergarten through 12th-grade students.
Marcos Najera brought his two children, his 7-year-old son, also named Marcos, and Carmen, 9, to the event. The pair are on break from Harney Elementary School. Najera watched grinning as the younger Marcos pretended to be a bean bag-collecting robot, following the commands his fellow students, including his sister, read out.
“It’s kind of like a puzzle,” she said.
Najera said his children interact with technology every day. It’s important as they grow up that they understand how it works, he said.
“It’s the fact that they see everything around them has technology,” Najera said. “Coding is something they need to know.”
