I wrote an op-ed for Aftenposten today about the need to teach our kids programming. Working on the government report on hindrances for digital innovation in Norway I read a lot about how we currently define “digital competency” and “digital skills”, and the more I read the more concerned I became. We think we’re giving kids what they need, because we require “digital skills” to be taught in every subject, but in fact we’re teaching them to become good users and to use computers to communicate, but not how to truly understand how computers work.

I have to write more about this. This is at least a start. And happily, a lot of people agree that kids need the opportunity to learn to code. In fact, next Tuesday marks the first meeting of a brand new national grassroots organisation, Lær kidsa koding! (Teach the kids to code!) which is meeting in Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and Sandefjord and maybe more places as well: check out kidsakoder.no for more.