Adam Cohen-Rose

Day Job: Senior Developer focussing on mobile (iPhone, Android, web) at The Cloud Networks (part of BSkyB) Contact: @adamcohenrose / http://blog.cohen-rose.org My history with computers started early due to my dad -- he was a telecoms software engineer and then a professor of computing (now retired) so we had a BBC and then various Macs around in the house from early on. However, I didn't really start programming (despite his best efforts!) until university. Now I've got kids of my own and I'm trying to find a good balance of getting them involved with technology but not addicted to it. The older boy (he's 8) really likes LEGO Star Wars and Moshi Monsters, but is actually a nicer person when he spends less time playing games on the computer... The younger boy is only 18 months but he already likes playing on the iPad :-) I'd like to get the kids able to make things on the computer rather than just be drawn into someone's else's games, so I've started trying out various programming environments with my 8 year old. We tried hackety hack and have now moved to Scratch which he seems to enjoy and get a bit more out of. He's also really into LEGO (and so was I when I was younger), so I bought a LEGO Mindstorms kit a couple of years ago (not just for him -- I enjoy making robots with it too!). We've made a few models and he really enjoys building them and putting together the programs in the instructions, but he hasn't started writing his own programs with it yet. I've found a story-based Mindstorms book (http://j.mp/n4AWbI) which might spur him into experimenting a little more -- I'll report back when we try it out. I've had a little teaching experience (and some actual training!) from Sunday school and I've pledged to work with my son's school to set up some kind of coding club -- I'm really excited to see how that goes (apparently the headmaster is a geek, so we should be off to a good start!).