Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    China
    Home / China / Education

    Coding is new 'game' for Chinese kids

    By Alexis Hooi and Cheng Yu | China Daily Global | Updated: 2019-09-12 09:27
    Share
    Share - WeChat
    A teacher explains how to use coding to create games at a summer camp organized by Codemao, an education group, in Beijing in July, 2018. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

    Chen Jiale's 10-year-old son, Zhixing, spends most of his free time on the weekends in front of his computer.

    The fourth-grade pupil said he would rather stay indoors after a quick lunch, glued to the screen. But Zhixing is not just playing games or surfing the internet - the boy is immersed in a basic computer programming, or coding, lesson. It is an increasingly addictive hobby that his mother completely approves of.

    "I signed him up for coding lessons at a private learning center about six months ago because I thought it might be an important skill that he would need. I'm glad he's enjoying it," said Chen, 36, who works in the catering industry like her husband in Beijing.

    The mother is one of a growing number middle-class Chinese parents in major cities where the private education sector is racing to fill demand for coding lessons, which are seen as a crucial skill to adequately arm students for the digital age.

    The coding industry for Chinese children is worth up to 4 billion yuan ($558 million) and that is forecast to increase about tenfold in the next five years, according to market research and consulting group iResearch.

    Major coding training companies accounted for a large portion of Chinese education investment deals last year, raising more than 780 million yuan altogether, according to latest industry figures.

    Makeblock, a global educational solutions provider for the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math fields and a major player in the intelligent hardware sector, is one of the Chinese companies looking to ride the coding wave. The company helps students build robots and carry out programming with self-developed software using tools and toys.

    It boasts 8 million users at home and abroad, with more than 25,000 schools tapping its solutions, over 1,600 partners via its various channels and the overseas market forming a substantial part of its revenue.

    The company, set up in 2013 and based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, is focusing on schools, training institutions and families, continuing its involvement in STEAM education via schools through a comprehensive hardware and software combined learning ecosystem, according to its public relations manager Mason Zhong.

    Makeblock has robotics products for the 4-to 8-year-old, and 8-to 16-year-old segments, geared toward maker communities and robotics competitions, and it has also rolled out kits targeting children's coding activities at home, Zhong said.

    "The emergence of the Scratch graphical programming language has greatly reduced the coding threshold," Zhong said.

    Scratch, developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, helps children to drag and combine code blocks to make a range of programs, including animations, stories, musical instruments and games.

    The international coding scene has expanded to cover the children and adolescent markets, Zhong said. Industry figures show that the current market penetration rate for those segments in China is 1 percent, compared with close to 45 percent in the United States and close to 10 percent in the United Kingdom, reflecting the great potential of the Chinese market, Zhong said.

    The challenge now is to fully integrate coding into children's education and the latest policies pushing for that are positive signals, Zhong said. The breakthrough may come when STEAM and coding become part of college entrance examinations and related requirements, Zhong said.

    More than half a million schools are now tapping advanced technology, including artificial intelligence and big data, to provide the latest teaching methods and curriculum for more than 270 million students across grades nationwide with practical lifelong skills for an increasingly digitized world, according to the Education Ministry.

    Education guidelines for schools cover pilot programs to push ahead with classes focusing on major fields such as science, math, engineering and technology, including computer coding. A national plan to develop the AI sector also requires coding classes in elementary and secondary schools, with private sector involvement in designing games and the use of related software.

    Education group Codemao, also based in technology hub Shenzhen, is another coding lessons provider for early learners, offering online platforms for children to design and program their work through animation and games. It boasts more than 10 million online users, including via mobile devices.

    Tao Mingshun, whose 13-year-old son learns coding with the company on top of lessons in a private training center, said the boy and his peers find the games and other activities in the weekend classes "challenging but fun".

    "The education sector is right to focus on these latest digital trends and the schools themselves need to speed up to meet these needs," said Tao, 45, who is also an educational consultant in a technology company.

    "We're certainly glad and excited with the growing interest. But I guess parents must also not forget that learning also occurs outdoors, in the physical environment."

    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
     
    人妻aⅴ无码一区二区三区| 亚洲男人第一无码aⅴ网站| 免费无码又爽又黄又刺激网站 | 亚洲av日韩av无码| 久久久久久无码Av成人影院| 精品久久久无码中文字幕| 18禁网站免费无遮挡无码中文 | 今天免费中文字幕视频| 久久Av无码精品人妻系列| 人妻AV中出无码内射| 亚洲中文字幕无码一区| 亚洲av无码专区国产乱码在线观看| 色综合久久最新中文字幕| 久久亚洲精品无码播放| 无码精品久久久天天影视 | 无码av免费一区二区三区| 中文字幕无码播放免费| 日本三级在线中文字幕在线|中文| 永久无码精品三区在线4| 国产精品无码午夜福利| 在线a亚洲v天堂网2019无码| 亚洲国产综合精品中文字幕 | 无码人妻精品一区二区三区99仓本| 国产成人无码区免费网站| 熟妇人妻无码中文字幕| 无码专区6080yy国产电影| 国产乱妇无码大片在线观看| 亚洲AV永久无码精品| 亚洲AV无码乱码国产麻豆| 日韩av无码免费播放| 日本中文字幕免费看| 区三区激情福利综合中文字幕在线一区| 中文字幕在线免费看线人| 熟妇人妻中文a∨无码| 无码精品蜜桃一区二区三区WW| 佐藤遥希在线播放一二区| 亚洲av无码不卡私人影院| 毛片免费全部无码播放| 亚洲AV无码资源在线观看| 国产精品无码国模私拍视频| 88久久精品无码一区二区毛片|