Coding is increasingly becoming a more valued skill in today’s job market. Introducing the concept of coding early on to kids and teenagers could help introduce them to a life-long career.

One helpful tool that was specifically designed to teach coding is the Raspberry Pi, which is a small multipurpose computer. The Raspberry Pi can teach kids coding languages, what a network is and how to use one, and the use of sensors.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for web developers is predicted to grow 27% in the next 8 years, which is much faster than the average job demand growth. With this demand, Raspberry Pi partnered with Google to create a lesson plan for kids to learn the fundamentals of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

After the end of the lesson, young children have a far better grasp on how to build a website. Such inspiration at a young age could be invaluable to a child’s future…and ours.

Network and Computer Systems Administrators have a job growth of roughly 8% over the next 8 years. While many adults don’t know what network or computer systems administrators do, Raspberry Pi makes it so simple that kids could be teaching it to their parents. With Raspberry Pi’s lesson plans, kids learn how to create a network, how to send messages through the network, how to control hardware over the network, and introduce basic networking concepts.

For example, 14-year-old Sahar Khashayar saw a need: an early wildfire detection system for national parks. She decided to take the initiative and taught herself how to program and combine her program with gas, infrared and temperature sensors. For her invention, she used a small multipurpose computer much like the Raspberry Pi called Arduino.

Sahar is just an example of how kids can do amazing things with just a little educational training. Raspberry Pi recognized this potential in kids, and made a lesson plan on how to use sensors. In this lesson, kids are taught how to sense and collect data on the weather with their Raspberry Pi.

Introducing the concept of coding early on to kids and teenagers could help introduce them to a life-long career. The Raspberry Pi’s goal is to help kids achieve that goal of a fulfilling career in coding.

Eric Cawley occasionally writes for Gary Stringham & Associates. Gary is a hardware, software, and firmware consultant and expert witness. He can be contacted at 208-939-6984.