I recently wrote that coding should be a mandatory subject in the UAE, so as to churn out young adults who at the very least have a drop of knowledge pertaining to the vastly important topic. While coding is making headway in local schools (as an extracurricular activity, not a mandatory one) the subject is getting a much needed boost from Microsoft, who recently introduced their coding competition “Kudu Kup” to children between the ages of 7-14.
Pun aside, what is it? Currently in its sixth year, the Kodu Kup, an exciting cornerstone of the Microsoft Citizenship initiative, is a global coding competition, open to children aged 7-14. Now before you state that a quintillion lines of code might be overwhelming for such young minds, the contest challenges students to design a game on the theme of the environment, using Kodu Game Lab technology. Kodu Game Lab is a a piece of software that uses the visual programming language Microsoft Kodu. Kodu lets kids create games on the PC and Xbox via a simple visual programming language. Kodu can be used to teach creativity, problem solving, storytelling, as well as programming.
Anyone can use Kodu to make a game, young children as well as adults with no previous design or programming skills and experience. As a result participants will not be required to waste away nights consuming copious amounts of coffee to code from scratch.
Kodu Kup challenges students to develop their own games using the Kodu Game Lab tools and helps them to take their first steps in coding using directional commands, creating imaginary worlds, conditional loops, modelling and simulations, all with the aim of bringing together the brightest young minds to exemplify the power of student innovation. Go Geeks!
Furthermore, Microsoft is taking the initiative to share its knowledge and educate all school students in the UAE about the importance of the role that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays in building a knowledge-based society, where people of all ages can learn collaboratively, enhancing their skills and empowering them to turn their dreams into reality. In a press release Michael Mansour, Head of Apps & Innovation, Microsoft Gulf said, “Microsoft believes in empowering every person and organization to achieve more. We are excited to bring the Kodu Kup to the UAE for the first time. As innovation is the key to success, we want to encourage young minds to enhance their coding skills, and also to come up with ideas that will not only challenge them but also make a difference to society.”
He continues: “The Kodu Kup is a competition that enables youngsters to learn coding in a fun and interactive way. When we were approached by local teachers to launch the competition here, we were thrilled to have this opportunity to enhance the ICT educational curriculum and encourage girls in particular by creating a category just for them called the Queen of Kodu.”
The first UAE edition of the Kodu Kup was launched on 1st October, when a comprehensive teacher information pack was available to be downloaded from the competition’s website, www.kodugamelab.com. The contest will run until 31st December 2015, and the UAE live final will take place on the 27thFebruary 2016 at Microsoft’s office in Dubai.
More information about the competition, guidelines and tips can be found on the Kodu Kup Onedrive account and on the competition’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/KoduKupUAE).
