Our children will grow up in a world with ever more technology at their fingertips. But parents need to make sure their kids’ skills go beyond the ability to use the devices. Simonne Pace finds out about a local coding programme for parents and children that seeks to make things click.

A big concern as parents is that our children – who are practically born knowing how to use a computer – get the very best out of technology. This is a huge responsibility to shoulder, especially when nowadays we all have access to anything, anywhere, all the time.

Klaus Conrad, one of the founders of Headstart Technology, a Maltese company set up late last year specifically to develop educational services and products, says there is no magic formula for parents to adopt.

“Like all things, there is a golden mean we should aim for – too much of anything is bad. But with technology specifically, it would be wrong to see limiting it as the only solution. Our kids will grow up in a world with ever more technology, not less.”

Families lack the skills to see technology as an enabler of creativity, and the reality is that without the right skills, technology becomes an all-consuming passive medium

This, he says, means parents need to make sure their children have the best possible skillset for the future, and this involves the ability to think of technology as more than just something to use for Facebook, Netflix or other people’s games.

A father of three children, aged six, nine and 13, Mr Conrad says his eldest took to programming like a fish to water and has been learning since he was eight or nine. The EasyPeasyCoding programme – the company’s first product – was designed to help teachers, parents and children develop the necessary skills to move from being passive technology consumers to becoming active creators.

The company hopes to expand its programmes internationally, with courses slated to be launched in Dubai and Paris this year, and is constantly researching new things it can introduce which would help parents, children and teachers make even more exciting stuff happen with technology.

“When I decided to teach the younger siblings, I discovered how little good material there was aimed specifically at making coding fun for young children. Locally, no dedicated programmes seemed to help and courses offered focused mostly on adult education. Teachers in schools do very limited coding and the emphasis seems to be more on digital literacy.

“As an IT professional myself, I cannot imagine letting my kids grow up without a firm footing in coding, as there are practically no jobs they can take in the future where this will not come in useful in some form. Even if they never take to programming as a vocation, the mental discipline and analytical, logical and creative thinking that coding fosters is of paramount importance,” Mr Conrad says.

A family with a boy and a girl, aged nine and four, who attend the EasyPeasyCoding programme, say they all love technology, especially the type that makes their lives easier. The best thing about coding classes is that they have improved their son’s motor skills and imagination.

“We sit next to each other and enjoy every minute of it. We learn new and fun things every time,” the father says.

“We look at technology as another aid that helps us interact with our children. However, we make it a point to set limits, as we believe that being active is far more beneficial. Technology complements our lifestyle. When we’re eating together, for example, we do not have the TV on or the tablet or smartphone nearby as these hinder communication,” the mother adds.

A lawyer working with a telecoms company and her husband, a director at a five-star hotel, who have two boys aged seven and five, say technology has simplified the way they do things. For their children, technology is just a part of their daily lives.

“They were playing with smartphones and swiping away at tablets from the word go, hence the constant running expense of fixing cracked screens, liquid seepages and broken internal antennae,” says the mother.

“My husband and I are in front of a screen most of the time while at work. Our children try to fit in as much screen time as they can. In between a Playstation, WiiU, a tablet and a 3DS, they have plenty to choose from and when we’re at home – which is mostly only during weekends – it’s their go-to entertainment of choice,” she adds.

Does technology bring them closer as a family on a day-to-day basis?

Being familiar with the technology that kids use opens up more avenues for interacting, talking and being together

“The truth is that we can’t make a comparison with how our life would have been without technology because it has always been there, so there’s no before and after. Obviously, we do still communicate, although it’s true to say that a lot of our conversations revolve around technology-related subjects – like the latest version of Minecraft, a new app, or when the boys buy a new 3DS game – but there is definitely more to us as a family than just that and the boys do talk about other things as they try to figure out and learn about the world, religion, science and how things work. They also play a lot of make-believe games together.”

Mr Klaus says children love technology. “When parents show an active interest as well, it already creates a situation where families can have fun together. Kids are enjoying something, and they enjoy the fact that their parents are also there taking an interest. Parents and kids can speak the same language. Topics like Minecraft are no longer alien to the parents – they understand when their child is excited about something they did because they understand what it actually involves. Being familiar with the technology that kids use opens up more avenues for interacting, talking and being together,” he explains.

There were many reasons for this family wanting to sign up to a coding class.

“The initial value for us was to try to expose our children to as many extracurricular activities as possible to help them discover their interests and talents and to become well-rounded, interesting and perceptive individuals.

“We have seen first-hand how the boys look forward to the coding lessons and that can only mean that they are learning under ideal conditions. Both boys are very numerate by nature and the classes teach them to think logically and to see things through as a whole process while having fun,” the parents explain.

Mr Conrad says technology is a wonderful tool to create things. “However, as a society, we seem to be stuck in consumer mode – too many people lack the skills required to actively engage with technology to create new and useful things. Why download a storybook app when a family could sit down together and parents could create an interactive story with their children? Why not make our own games instead of having children play other people’s games?

“Families lack the skills to see technology as an enabler of creativity, and the reality is that without the right skills, technology becomes an all-consuming passive medium.”