NCKU professor initiates programming projects for rural school children - Noodls
Professor Wen-Yu Su from the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) has led a group of graduate students to teach children from rural schools to code, the university revealed recently.
A voluntary team including 15 NCKU students, Prof. Su, and numerous volunteers has frequently visited a church at Dongshi Township in Chiayi to teach children programming skills since last summer.
The idea of teaching children to code is coming from Prof. Su's experience in showing his daughter how to program.
Meanwhile, he is so aware of the problem of rural-urban inequality in Taiwan that he determined to make a difference by initiating "Program The World."
The project started from July 2014. In summer and winter breaks, Prof. Su and his team visited Chiayi once a week, 8 hours each visit. During the semester, they will have classes once a month for 8 hours as well.
Currently, a total of 20 children aging from 10 to 14 years old are involved in the project.
According to Prof. Su, computer scientists play a central role in our technological infrastructure and having the ability to code can be regarded as holding a key to promising career.
To reach out for help, Prof. Su put "Program The World" on the crowdfunding website, flying V, on which he received second-handed computers, funds, and volunteers.
In addition, the project got supports from the Institute for Information Industry with 200 thousand funds.
NCKU student Yen-Bo Lee said, "My first teaching experience was very frustrating. I found it difficult to have the children sit down and listen to me."
"However, after one semester, they have gradually found their passion in programming. Their learning attitudes have changed greatly as well," said Lee.
As for the budget, the team uses the money cautiously. Most of the money is used for transportation, gasoline, or computer consumables, according to Lee.
"Last year, from July to December, we used only 40 thousand dollars. Currently, we still have 160 thousand dollars, which are expected to maintain the project for the coming two to three years," Lee said.
All the spending is shown on the website to keep supporters to the project informed.
Prof. Su said, "We are planning to set up a Program the World Association under the governmental law. If lucky, the association could be established by March or April."
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A voluntary team including 15 NCKU students, Prof. Su, and numerous volunteers has frequently visited a church at Dongshi Township in Chiayi to teach children programming skills since last summer.
The idea of teaching children to code is coming from Prof. Su's experience in showing his daughter how to program.
Meanwhile, he is so aware of the problem of rural-urban inequality in Taiwan that he determined to make a difference by initiating "Program The World."
The project started from July 2014. In summer and winter breaks, Prof. Su and his team visited Chiayi once a week, 8 hours each visit. During the semester, they will have classes once a month for 8 hours as well.
Currently, a total of 20 children aging from 10 to 14 years old are involved in the project.
According to Prof. Su, computer scientists play a central role in our technological infrastructure and having the ability to code can be regarded as holding a key to promising career.
To reach out for help, Prof. Su put "Program The World" on the crowdfunding website, flying V, on which he received second-handed computers, funds, and volunteers.
In addition, the project got supports from the Institute for Information Industry with 200 thousand funds.
NCKU student Yen-Bo Lee said, "My first teaching experience was very frustrating. I found it difficult to have the children sit down and listen to me."
"However, after one semester, they have gradually found their passion in programming. Their learning attitudes have changed greatly as well," said Lee.
As for the budget, the team uses the money cautiously. Most of the money is used for transportation, gasoline, or computer consumables, according to Lee.
"Last year, from July to December, we used only 40 thousand dollars. Currently, we still have 160 thousand dollars, which are expected to maintain the project for the coming two to three years," Lee said.
All the spending is shown on the website to keep supporters to the project informed.
Prof. Su said, "We are planning to set up a Program the World Association under the governmental law. If lucky, the association could be established by March or April."
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