Teaching Kids to Program with Hedy: A Gradual Programming Language • Felienne Hermans • GOTO 2022

[@LearnCodingGrid]

Great talk! We've encountered similar challenges with our educational app Coding Grid and VisualL language. Our approach, however, leverages a new visual language based on blocks, with "syntax" akin to the Java/C/JavaScript/Kotlin/etc., while offering the option to switch to non-English keywords. This of course aims to make coding more accessible and inclusive. It’s great to see different approaches to making coding education more engaging and universal!

[@varantavers]

Unfortunately we have to teach C++ to 12-13 years olds, however I will definetly try to implement this somehow.

[@stephanweinberger]

There is no way an average 12-year-old can grasp the concepts thrown at them in one big lump with a language like C++ in a meaningful way. It's just _way_ too much, and ultimately is likely to breed bad programmers, that just copy & paste code snippets without understanding the concepts behind it.

[@neko6]

"have to"? Whose making you? I think with C++ you'd probably not want the compiler to be the teacher

[@grapy83]

That's a beautiful brilliant idea and product. I still have painful memory of the cognitive overload trying to understand the BASIC code examples given in a book alongside ZX Spectrum PC way back in my childhood! Long story short, I couldn't and it still hurts me to think about all the fun i missed. With Hedy, it should be really practical to grasp programming concepts progressively for lil children.

[@Stuck-Chuck]

This is a great talk ... love it. More content in conferences focusing on educating and how to bring up the next set of engineers is really, really appreciated

[@willemvdk4886]

Amazing!! My 11yo son wants to learn to program just like his dad. I've let him play with Scratch but that was too childish. And I haven't showed him Python yet exactly for the reasons mentioned in the talk. There's just too much to learn at once. This, Hedy, seems like a bull's-eye! Awesome! Great presentation as well. Although the enthousiasm is a bit too much sometimes ;)

[@fauxvillage3811]

fantastic! great work!

[@animanaut]

that is one dedicated individual. i would have been more lazy about it. after first complaints go back to scratch and gradually introduce python equivalents to the scratch examples. kudos all the way. the first language actually does not matter that much tbh, but removing hurdles makes it more accessible. for me it was a little bit of basic & logo(the turtle thing) on C64 both of which i have never used again but were great introductions to both imperative and functional programming

[@fitryyusub107]

🌟🌟

[@CaseyMau]

I'm a developer and have 3 small children. I definitely get the syntax problem. I see it as trying to fan the flame of their excitement for it. They can overcome small setbacks which can even make it more satisfying when they get something. When the syntax errors or other setbacks become a constant battle I see them abandon hope and not want to come back for more.

[@stephanweinberger]

As for the error message containing the comma: I guess another point of confusion is, that the error does not explain _why_ the comma is not allowed. Is the concept of comma-separated lists already known at this level? If not: why is the comma not allowed? If yes: why not mention it in the error message?

[@burpleson]

Wonderful!

[@SteveCopley]

So glad that this video popped up in my feed! I'm planning our Year 9 curriculum at the moment (I teach in NZ). We have the exact issues that you describe when transitioning from Scratch to Python. Have tried so many different approaches to teaching those first steps in a text-based language...☹️ Will definitely be giving Hedy a try this year. Thank you so much for creating and developing this. ❤️

[@knopeace]

i am a believer... excellent

[@ThomasRega]

what a wonderful idea what a great talk - cu on the platform - thank you SO MUCH!!

[@encapsulatio]

We need other programming languages supported, not only Python. Smalltalk is a better beginner dynamic language, plus you get to learn object orientation as it was intended, not as it is distorted in Java or Python. Scala is also a good alternative to Python because the type system recognizes the errors easier and there are fewer things to keep in your mind while working on your programming exercises, plus you don't have to deal with whitespace errors. Overall, less cognitive load while using Scala 3 when you're just starting out as a beginner compared to Python.

[@CaseyMau]

Do you believe it would be easier to learn if Hedy was based on a different language? Or do you have a problem with the foundation they are building if Hedy slowly progresses into full fledged python? I wonder what the reason is they chose python. Probably because it was near and already popular. From the architecture it seems the grammar/parsers could be extensible into other languages though. Sounds like you need to submit some PRs.

[@encapsulatio]

​@@CaseyMau My point is that python is "second best" for most tasks but the even bigger problem is that it is not designed to implement the paradigms in their full strength and purity. Start right from the beginning, teaching the languages that properly implement functional paradigm(Scala) and object orientation using messages(Smalltalk) then later the students can pick up by themselves python or javascript because they want to get a job but they will know better how to keep python or javascript mess under control than if not exposed to better designed languages from the start. If you just want a job as fast as possible as a beginner then you need to be strategic and based on your location and what jobs are more utilized there see if learning java, python or javascript first will be more beneficial. But if you're just a student that is not in a race against time then yes choose these languages I mentioned first and get good enough to master the fundamentals well in both paradigms because in real life no paradigm is the best for every task and choosing wisely based on your context and requirements will be better than just rushing in choosing just one paradigm for everything. "Sounds like you need to submit some PRs." I'm not yet at a stage where I can teach others at a level I would want to be tutored myself. So I am quite unqualified to properly layer the syntax and concepts in increments based on cognitive load, coupled with other approaches that try to maximize how much you retain.

[@bamezu7165]

Terrible idea to first teach fake syntax. Confusing, time wasting, and fake. C syntax is actually really simple and logical. Don't ruin everything with fake and half baked languages.

[@pengain4]

Would be great to hear/read about your teaching experience with C. Can you please share it with us?