COVID-19 & Learning to Code

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted the world as a whole, completely destroying our former way of life as we know it—for the time being that is. Education, for example, has changed significantly: many schools were initially shut down and transitioned to an online setting, while, today, the school system features a combination of reduced capacity, remote learning, and hybrid classrooms. To say the least, the education of children in a very crucial phase of their development has been impacted. While young people’s learning in the classroom may have stagnated, students have been provided with the time to devote their time to their own personal projects, and hobbies that they are passionate about—coding for example.

Over the course of the last several months, students have had more time at home, and many  have decided to pursue a new endeavor: coding—take some of Coding Pals’ students, for example. With the abundance of online resources, youtube videos, and virtual classes students are privileged with the cornucopia of resources presented. Eric Li, for instance, remarked about how the springtime lockdown in British Columbia allowed him to discover his passion for Java:

“Before the lockdown I did not really have the time to truly refine my skills, and devote a large amount of time to coding. However, during the lockdown, I decided to spend a few hours a day working on my Java skills, and after a few weeks, I could not believe how far I had come, while I realized that coding was something I really enjoyed as well.”

All around the world students like Eric have had the chance to either develop a new passion for coding, or refine and further develop their pre-existing skills. Although the pandemic has brought many challenges to society, the opportunity to create and strengthen one’s hobbies or passions is one silver-lining.