[Vol. 73] Let’s Play with ‘Software’!

Have you heard about the ‘Let’s play with Software!’ program? Have you seen this banner on the Naver website?  Maybe, most of you haven’t seen this and don’t know about this program. It’s a software mentoring program that teaches the software program ‘SCRATCH’ to elementary school students. Naver and some universities, including our school, are taking part. From last November to this January, this reporter participated in this mentoring program.

This report will briefly introduce the software program, ‘SCRATCH’. Can you see the blocks on the screen? (See the photo above.) Its name is SCRIPT. ‘SCRIPT’ functions by taking orders. ‘Sprite’ is a character that receives the order and acts on it. It’s an easy and simple program used to make games. So, to prepare for the upcoming software education at school, Naver chose it for a mentoring program for elementary students. In addition, Naver looked for participants for the program through on-line application and KNUE students joined with about 10 elementary students per session.

While teaching students, the author was surprised with students’ high interest for the class and with their creativity. Some students came to class from a long distance away. Many students asked a lot of creative questions. Furthermore, they even contributed new content not in the textbook and applied it to their own work. Therefore, although we mentors were in a teaching position, the students often became our teachers.

On the flip side, however, the program was in need of some improvements. For example, there were differences in students’ learning abilities. Recruitment subjects for the program were elementary students in grades 4 to 6.  However, middle school students and elementary lower grades also applied. So due to their participation, mentors had a little hard time teaching these subject groups. For them, other basic courses or intensive courses will be needed. 

So, why it is so important to learn software programming? The US President Barack Obama said, “Learning programming skills is important for your future and it’s important for the country’s future.”   And the Chairman of Mercedes-Benz said, “A car is moved by software, not by gasoline.” As you can see from the above, the world in which we live in is becoming more and more dominated by software. Children who will live in a more complex world should have the ability to program software to lead their future. Already, many other countries have acknowledged this and are preparing children to learn programming. For example, in 1994, Israel, incorporated software subjects in the regular school curriculum. In 2009, Japan decided to adopt software (or software programming) as an obligatory subject to their nation's curriculum. In 2014, Finland expanded schools that learning coding programs throughout the country.

Considering steps taken by other countries and global trends, Korea is not ready for these trends. So we shouldn’t be too hasty. We must take careful examination before expanding application of software education to school. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning Software Deputy Director General considered that in early 2016 ‘software special screening’ will be made available for university entrance examination. But it could be premature. Some students must have private education. Many students may be confused by the change in the university entrance examination. Furthermore, there are many things yet to be discussed. And as always, the effectiveness should be seriously considered.

In summary, Indigo has given a brief account of a software mentoring program and the importance of programming education. We have reported on SMART education in preceding articles. It may seem innovative in education, but if it is set in motion when there have not been enough consideration, it would be another burden to students. First of all, it is important to provide the appropriate environment for SMART education; then both SMART and software education, can be taught properly. For this, as pre-teachers, we KNUE students should know this trend in education and try to study basic content about it as a minimum. Furthermore, if you are interested more about it, why don’t you apply for ‘SW raising competent students business’ program that our school is supporting?  It can benefit you.