Women in tech: CEO of coding school for kids says she wants to empower the next generation
- Founder Michelle Sun says she is happy to be a teacher and a better role model for girls in the world of technology
Michelle Sun is CEO of First Code Academy, a coding school for young people that she started in Hong Kong in 2013 and which now spans Macau, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore and Taiwan. She recently visited the South China Morning Post to explain how kids as young as four years’ old can learn how to code and create mobile applications. Coding is the computer language employed to build the software, websites and apps that people use on their smart devices everyday.
Here’s what you need to know about Sun’s First Code Academy:
Q: Why aim your business at children?
A: Sun says she wants to empower the next generation to become creators with technology.
Kids today interact with technology like no other generation before, says Sun, and many of them can unlock an iPad before they start learning how to write. “Coding to me and this generation of students is just like learning Mandarin – it is like a whole new second language that they need to know to be a world citizen.”
Suns says the aim is to inspire kids to form a lifelong interest in interacting with technology in a creative way. “Coding is one way for kids to bring their ideas to life,” says Sun, whether that is a robot, website or game.