Why Do Students Have To Learn Computer Science in Hong Kong?

Students have to learn computer science in Hong Kong – and everywhere on this planet – as we are living in a world with technology. From banking, medicine, entertainment to retail, technology is everywhere.

When you withdraw money at the bank, there is computer science which made that possible. When you go to the movies, computers have processed and improved the images you are watching. When you buy something in a shop, there is a transaction processed by computer.

We quite often forget about it. But it’s here, working in the background. Making sure you can do the transactions you need to do during the day. And technology is getting better and better. Faster, safer, more powerful.

Students need to learn computer science, the same way we used to learn biology or physics to understand the environment we live in. They must learn now how computer science works too.

It’s rewarding and gives you confidence

When you understand how to control a machine, you feel powerful. Learning computer science is about this, but not only.

Ask ten people who learned about computer science

They will all reply that problems solving skills are developed in such a tremendous way thanks to computer science. This is a silly example but you’ll understand why. Imagine you’re running late this morning. Try to breakdown this problem with simple questions like: “what is going to take the most time, and how can I cut corners to avoid wasting time?”. This is computational thinking.

It’s an endless cycle of learning

It means it’s tough to get bored. Technology is moving fast. You have to adapt. Being open-minded and relentlessly curious is a mindset your students will develop as they learn computer science.

Grit!

It’s a skill very few students have, yet it makes the difference in the long run. Grit is a positive, non-cognitive trait based on an individual’s passion for a particular long-term goal, coupled with a powerful motivation to achieve their respective objective. Learning computer science softly develops this skill in each student. Simply because it’s hard, and tedious. You can’t understand computer science over a night. It’s a long relationship students have to embrace.

We could go on and on with the list, but these traits are the most common one students will develop as they are learning computer science. We believe that it’s worth it in Hong Kong. Which is why we developed an introductory workshop to computer science in Hong Kong.

We will publish soon an exhaustive list of how to learn computer science in Hong Kong, which schools are making an effort to develop it, to associations and companies working on it.

Our workshop consists of 12 hours of activity. It involves primary and secondary students and usually the class is about 15 to 20 students. We have four units of work that cover the nature of computer science. One of the big idea behind these workshops is to encourage students to use computers to create and not just consume. By doing this, students will develop their problem solving skills through the logic of computational thinking.

As a teacher, you can register your class, or form a group within your school and we will help you arrange the rest! You can have a detailed look here.

The key to build tomorrow’ society is to be aware of where we are today – the environment we are living in, full of technology – and where we are heading. Software is eating the world. Think about the GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple), and all the startups taking off. They all need engineers who were taught computer science. And the younger students are exposed to computational thinking the better for them, and the society they live in.

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