It’s compelling to say girls can code nowadays. Female programmers have proved that they are being more than capable to accomplish coding tasks over this century. Grace Hopper was one of them, she invented the first compiler for a programming language and popularized the machine-independent language that is still being used in today society. However, the society are not making it easy for young girls to pursue an interest in computer science due to stereotypes. To encourage girls to have a curiosity in this field, CityU Apps Lab worked with Sacred Heart Canossian School to organize a workshop, namely ‘Girls can Code’ that opened for students interested in coding learning. It aims to provide opportunities for girls to learn the fundamentals of coding and explore their excitement in the field of computing at an early age.

In the workshop, girls learned how to create a ball bounce mini game using App Inventor under tutors’ guidance. The structure of the creation of the game allowed the girls to apply their own ideas and designs. This experience was rewarding because computer classes in formal school are monotonous. By attending this workshop, they were able to enrich their I.T.

Parents almost shared the same view – it’s great for girls to learn how to code, or even engage in the particular field at the future because coding process promotes active thinking and innovative ideas which are crucial in the real world. A father of an eight-years-old Indian girl said proficient with computer skills is good for children’s development as the structure of workshop encourage logical thinking that helps them with problem solving and intellectual growth.