DUBAI // Roles were reversed this week when school pupils taught staff at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) the basics of computer coding.
The class was given as part of the week-long Hour of Code event, which runs until Sunday in private schools across Dubai.
That Hour of Code event is part of Computer Science Education Week, which features a variety of initiatives aimed at improving the problem-solving, logic and creativity skills of children.
Teachers and pupils from Dubai English Speaking School came up with the idea of, and carried out, workshops to introduce staff at KHDA to computer programming using the language known as Python.
“It was wonderful seeing the interest of these students in helping others to learn how to code,” said Mouza Al Suwaidi, the chief of engagement at KHDA.
“We believe in motivating the school community to adopt new ideas and help inspire creative learning in students.
“The Hour of Code initiative helps students, teachers and everyone with an interest in coding to improve their ability in learning basic coding.”
For the rest of the week, pupils will take part in events aimed at demystifying computer coding.
“The student coders were very excited to host a workshop at KHDA and at our school,” said Lisa Finch, director of instructional technology at Dubai English Speaking College.
School coding workshops focus on pupils from year 6 to year 8, with the aim of helping them get to grips with the basics of programming.
The Hour of Code is a global movement involving tens of millions of children in more than 180 countries.
It provides the fundamentals to allow anyone, anywhere, to organise coding events with one-hour tutorials in more than 40 languages.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
