Boosting Creative Confidence with Coding & Design Thinking

Looking to make learning to code exciting?

Kids who learn to code at a young age have a head start over the ones who learn it later in life. Some of the influential leaders who started off to code early and created some of the amazing products include Bill Gates –the philanthropist, billionaire, and Microsoft co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg – the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Facebook, Jack Dorsey – a technology entrepreneur, philanthropist, and co-founder & CEO of Twitter and Steve Wozniak – an electronics engineer, programmer, and co-founder of Apple Inc.

The NEP 2020 has introduced Coding from standard 6th onwards as a part of the 21st Century Skills. It recommends that special focus should be on making kids proficient in using new technologies to showcase their creativity and prepare them for the digital future. Another area of focus should be on creativity enhancement – facilitating kids to practice 'design thinking' in which they can make their own design decisions and come up with solutions.

Learning to code has many benefits. It motivates kids to experiment which strengthens their brains and helps them to tap into their creative side. As they create apps, websites, & games using coding – their screen time becomes productive.

Coding develops better focus and equips kids with 21st Century skills like computational thinking, logical thinking, sequencing, analysis, ideation, creativity, and problem solving. It prepares them for fast-growing and high-paying jobs of the future like App Developer, Web Developer, Computer Programmer, Web Designer, Game Designer, UI/UX Designer and more.

Young students can learn to code using Block Languages (Visual Programming) like Scratch or Blockly before advancing to text-based languages like Python or JavaScript. In Block languages, they don’t have to write codes, they need to simply drag-and-drop coding instruction “blocks” to develop their own games, apps etc through visuals.

Here are some coding & design thinking project ideas that will make learning to code fun for kids/students and enhance their creative confidence:

Game Design 

Kids/students can be given a game design project to code and design a game with the 5 elements of nature (earth, water, fire, air, and ether/space) as the core concept.

App Design 

Students can be assigned an app design project to code and design an application that allows them to swap their goods and businesses in exchange for what they need.

Web Design 

Students can work on a web design project; they can code and design an interesting web-based personal diary that can be customised to an individual’s needs.

3D Design  

Students can work on a 3D design project to code and design an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) – a flying marvel that can’t be quickly recognized.

ICT 360 in alignment with NEP, provides ICT curriculum with ready-to-use content, design and computational thinking approach to projects as well as interdisciplinary learning material on an online platform that caters to today’s relevant technologies and future skills requirements. It is designed to help teachers improve their instructional practices with 21st century teaching skills through train-the-teacher program, build a strong foundation to empower students with the ability and skills to design & create amazing things on their own in a fun & engaging environment, excel in academics and prepare them to be industry- and career-ready.

With 50+ partner schools across India, it aims to empower students with creativity, problem-solving, design and tech skills from an early age. These skills are essential for future job roles like Graphic Designers, AI & ML Specialists, Software & Applications Developers, Animators, Robotics Engineers, Data Analysts, and IOT Specialists.

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