In recent years, a "dark horse" has emerged in children’s training institutions, from the previous English fever and Olympic fever to the current "programming fever". Children’s programming is becoming more and more popular. From first-tier cities to second-and third-tier cities, programming training institutions have mushroomed. Why is children’s programming training so hot? Is the "fanaticism" of parents worth it? Yangzi Evening News/Zi Niu News reporter conducted an in-depth investigation.
Parents: Artificial intelligence is a trend, and I hope that children will get in touch early.
"Robotics course is really expensive. I paid a package fee of about 15,000 yuan in one fell swoop. Every class is about 160 yuan. At first, I started from the initial Lego, and then I learned fish, which involved some knowledge related to circuits and physics, and I will learn programming later. Children also like it very much. I think it is helpful for children’s hands-on ability, logical thinking ability and spatial imagination ability, so I will report it to him by biting my teeth. After all, artificial intelligence in the future is the general trend. " Ms. Wang told the reporter.
There are many people who think like Ms. Wang. For programming, many parents are full of confusion, and at the same time, they are thinking, "The times have really changed. Although I don’t understand, I can’t let my children miss it."
Institution: The course is full of fun, which makes students’ brains wide open.
A person in charge of a training institution said that the courses of robotics and children’s programming are increasingly welcomed by children and parents. On the one hand, these courses can improve children’s logical thinking ability, hands-on ability, observation and imagination; On the other hand, in recent years, the number of places for science and technology specialty students in some high schools and universities has also increased year by year. In 2017, there may be only a few places for science and technology specialty students in some schools, and it has increased to 10-25 in 2018. In 2019, some schools have increased to 30 places. Some 985 and 211 universities also have enrollment policies for science and technology specialty students. This is why parents are eager for children’s programming training.
"At the same time, the robot course is also full of fun, which makes the students’ brains wide open. For example, our students will design a ‘ Eat melon seeds ’ Robot, while spitting out melon seeds, while spitting out melon seeds; Another student’s father is in business. He designed a business card-issuing robot, which will automatically spit out business cards or leaflets. Some students transformed the old water dispenser into an inductive water receiving device … …”
Teacher in the industry: It’s just a simple graphical programming.
The reporter inquired online about the enrollment plan for special students in ordinary high schools in Nanjing in 2019. At present, only Nanjing No.29 Middle School, Nanjing Yanziji Middle School, Nanjing Yuhuatai Middle School and Gaochun High School have special student plans for robots, and the number of places is generally around 5-15. Nanjing Foreign Language School has five special students in STEM information technology, and the South Normal High School has 25 special students in engineering innovation and artificial intelligence, but there is no mention of robots.
In an interview, a teacher who specializes in scientific and technological activities and scientific and technological innovation competitions in the middle school attached to South Normal University said that he did not approve of this kind of suite construction. "The robot course can be used as an introduction to the structural mode and electronic circuit mode for primary school students, but it is not recognized that students above junior high school still stay at the level of building and assembling. This kind of course is built according to the package specified by the manufacturer, which is far from innovation; The so-called children’s programming is just simple graphical programming, which is different from real programming. Robot ring and robot tug-of-war and long jump events built by the middle school attached to South Normal University are not allowed to be equipped with kits, but only the qualified size and weight … … After completing the competition task, students can make their own materials. "
The teacher said that the South Normal University High School doesn’t recognize this kind of kit robot competition. "At present, many parents’ scientific literacy is not enough, and it is easy to be deceived. The production of this robot is always imitating, taking it, not a real invention. What the students learned was just using tools, which had nothing to do with technological innovation. "
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The uncertainty of the future has aggravated parents’ anxiety.
In the rapidly changing digital age, people have a sense of urgency and crisis. With the rapid development of information technology, artificial intelligence has been continuously applied to various scenes of social life. A large number of existing labor skills, knowledge methods and ways of thinking will be eliminated, and even occupations that have existed for many years will be replaced by artificial intelligence. This violent impact makes people worry that if they don’t learn new skills in time, they will be eliminated.
Facing the uncertainty of the future, parents’ anxiety in China is on the rise. The survey shows that parents don’t know much about the emerging programming training itself, but they think that programming is an indispensable skill in the future, and hope that children can master it as soon as possible. This kind of catching-up mentality of "learning early has advantages", the comparison mentality of "others have to learn from their own children" and the utilitarian mentality of "getting extra points for further studies" are understandable on the surface, but they are blind in essence.
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