Online programming platform for Malaysian schools

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), in collaboration with the Education Ministry (MOE), has provided Malaysian schools with an online platform for basic programming to enhance digital and cognitive skills among teachers and students.
MDEC Vice-President, Talent and Digital Entrepreneurship, Sumitra Nair said the platform, code.org was an open source programme which encouraged participants to learn coding through interactive gaming applications provided and by doing so, removed misconception that computer programming was a difficult subject for both teachers and students.
"Our company partners with code.org to drive up participation across Malaysia and we also collaborated with MOE to organise the Hour of Code awareness campaign in an effort to give exposure to students and teachers regarding computer programming and coding.
"Throughout the gamification process, participants' logical skills are put to the test where they need to apply the codes which are provided in either each of the gaming applications while receiving notifications regarding their progress and the end result can be seen within a short time span," she said after the closing ceremony of Anugerah Pembestarian Sekolah 2017 (APS 2017) in Persiaran Bukit Kiara, Bukit Damansara near here today.
The awards were presented by Education Deputy Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon.
A total of 120,000 participants and 1,200 schools nationwide were involved in the Hour of Code campaign from Oct 30 to Nov 13.
The APS 2017 ceremony recognises stellar accomplishments by Malaysian schools in digital making activities such as coding, robotics, application development, engineering design and computational thinking. — Bernama