In every classroom from prep to Year 10, children in schools will learn coding skills and get hands-on with robotics in Queensland as the state becomes the first in Australia to mandate in-depth computer programming training.
The ABC reports that Queensland will join Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Estonia and England in bringing computer coding into the state’s primary school curriculum. Parents won’t be able to opt their children out of the classes if they disagree with the amount of screen time their kids are getting, either — this is a full-force effort from Queensland’s education system to educate kids in the skills needed to live and work online.
The classes that Queensland schoolkids take won’t necessarily be aimed at getting them jobs in coding or software development, though; students will instead get a general knowledge of digital literacy that they’ll use in every aspect of their learning from English to maths. iPads won’t be completely replacing pens and paper, either. Coding and programming will be an integral part of the jobs that these kids eventually move into in the future, so it’s a smart move. [ABC]