Britain’s biggest newspaper has today teamed up with internet giant Google to raise awareness of computer coding – the language used to instruct computers.
Parenting on Female First
The campaign is aimed at helping parents understand coding so they can play their part in inspiring a new generation of computer programmers.
The Department of Education is due to introduce coding as a topic onto the school curriculum for every child aged 5-16 years old in September 2014.
The coding initiative follows research showing that there has been a 60% fall in UK kids taking computer science A Levels and 15 times more boys studying IT than girls.
The Sun newspaper will run a number of features highlighting the importance of coding and also partner with Google to open a Code Camp at Google’s London HQ to teach children how to code.
The Sun families and teachers can win the chance to attend Code Camp and learn how to make a computer game. One student will be given the opportunity to travel to Google in San Francisco and develop their game further with some of the best brains in technology.
David Dinsmore, Editor of The Sun, said: “Britain has a thriving software industry and some of the most innovative technology companies in the World, but the number of British young people working in these companies is declining. Coding is now an essential skill for nearly all industries and The Sun is proud to be spearheading an initiative that will help bring through the next generation of Tim Berners-Lees.”
Mark Warriner, Director of Engineering at Google, said: ““From the invention of the computer, to the world wide web and the TV, Britain has always been a cradle of invention. Even today, the software, app and gaming industries are creating jobs at a record rate. But we’re not as good as we once were. The number of students studying computer science is declining and we risk falling behind. We hope this campaign will inspire more young people about what they can do with code and help to make innovation part of Britain’s future, as well as its past.”
For details on how to win a place at Code Camp visit www.thesun.co.uk/coding
Tagged in Parents Child children School Parenting News