It's More Than Just Teaching Kids to Code; Live from CES

Function with Anil Dash

On our season finale of Function, Anil sits down with Alex Kleinco-founder and CEO of Kano Computing live from the Google Assistant Playground at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Coding education for kids is wildly popular, from books and toys to after school programs from non-profit organizations, companies are putting lots of money and resources behind helping create the next generation of programmers. But is that enough? A few years ago, Anil wrote about his skepticism behind these efforts, wondering if perhaps they are missing the mark on teaching proficiency over literacy.

Alex's company Kano creates kits for all ages that help make coding and computing skills as simple and fun as putting together LEGO bricks. He shares what motivated him to empower kids and beginners to create technology.

Thank you for listening to the first season of Function! As we take a break and prep for season two, we want to learn more about you. What do you like about Function? What would you change? Tell us everything in our audience survey! Visit voxmedia.com/podsurvey and let us know what you think.

References and other notes:

• Harry Potter Coding Kit
• Glitch user Samarth Jajoo
• "It's more than just 'teach kids to code'" (Anil Dash)
• Steve Jobs "bicycle for the mind" reference
• Kara Swisher's 2010 interview with Mark Zuckerberg
• DJ Focus

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