Hedy helps schoolchildren everywhere learn to code

Low-threshold programming language for schoolchildren

"Knowing something about programming helps you to understand lots of other things, such as digital privacy and how technology impacts our society. It's also a good way to hone your problem-solving and creative skills." If all children, regardless of gender or background, learn about programming when they're young, it lowers the threshold for training as a programmer later, and ultimately leads to greater diversity in the IT sector.

Hedy is an open-source platform for teaching programming to schoolchildren. Pupils aged 10 and above can work their way up through Hedy's multiple levels. As they progress, they learn the basic principles of programming language and how to use it, step by step. Along the way, they're given practical tasks, such as programming a song or an interactive story. A flexible design enables teachers to adapt Hedy's explanatory elements to their own classes. And Hedy's step-by-step methodology means teachers don't need any prior knowledge of programming. Additional support is available in the form of a teacher's guide and access to other teachers.

Code in your own language

"Hedy is now available in Dutch and 58 other languages," says Felienne. "The platform is used in schools all around the world, from the Netherlands to Botswana, from China to Puerto Rico. And, if a would-be user finds that Hedy hasn't been translated into their language yet, they can initiate the translation process themselves." The importance of young people being able to program in their own language was underscored by the Hour of Code in Botswana. At the event on 14 March, more than 6,000 students and 400 teachers were given a one-hour introduction to basic programming. "We were able to collect a lot of valuable research data as well," Felienne continues. "That data showed clearly that pupils pick up programming more quickly when they learn in their own language."

Support from SIDN Fund

Rigorous maintenance of the Hedy codebase is needed to make sure that the platform stays future-proof and attractive to new users. With support from SIDN Fund, Felienne has therefore set up an independent foundation to manage Hedy's code, teaching materials and community. "Creating a new legal entity is an important step," Felienne explains. "It enables us to organise processes more professionally and draw up a clear plan for the future. It also means that we can apply for charitable ANBI status, which has tax advantages." The foundation has about 7 professionals working on the further development of Hedy, the teaching materials, the user guides and the newsletters. The team is made up of programmers, educationalists and business experts.

Explaining the background to the Fund's involvement, Programme Manager Mieke van Heesewijk says, "Hedy makes programming accessible to children from all backgrounds, all around the world. Being able to learn in their own languages helps them to develop technical skills and gain an understanding of technology's impact."

Programmers of the future

At the moment, the team is working on a comprehensive upgrade to the Hedy codebase. "That's possible only because of the grant from SIDN Fund," says Felienne. "The Fund's support has enabled us to find out what our users want and to improve the insertion of our translation software. We're also adding options for teachers, such as uploading an Excel file of pupils' names. Minor enhancements like that help to make the platform more user-friendly."

"My goal is to get across the message to children everywhere that it's people who make computers, apps and software work. And to teach them to create programs of their own, of whatever size, both as a means of creative self-expression and as a way of ultimately making humanity less dependent on global technology corporations."

Want to contribute to Hedy's open-source code? Visit https://github.com/hedyorg/hedy or the Hedy website, www.hedy.org.