Interview With Thomas – Our Expert Coding Tutor

Thomas with Ghaith, one of our coding students

 

Hey Thomas, first things first – what exactly is coding, and what can it be used for?

Simplified, coding is the instructions given on computers in the form of symbols and letters in order to perform a particular task. All of the electronic systems surrounding us are programmed to function using coding, so it could be said that coding is implicitly involved in our everyday lives!

 

As a coding tutor, do you mainly teach older students, or younger ones too?

It’s usually taught to teenagers and older students, when they already have a basic mathematical background. However in the last few years a lot of parents – and some schools – have started getting their children to learn basic coding skills from ages 7 and above, as far as I am aware. I think that’s particularly useful since children at those ages learn much easier than adults, since they are at that age where they simply absorb information. Myself, I teach coding to children from ages from 7 to 17!

Do you think coding is taught enough in schools? If technology is the future (and the present), could it not be as important as maths or English?

Yes, I believe that coding should become an essential subject in schools. Whether we like it or not, technology is taking over in all of the sectors of industry and academia. Therefore if children start learning how to think in terms of coding from a young age, things will be much easier when they will have to use coding in university, or even work.

 

Do you think coding will be mandatory for a lot of professions in a few years’ time?

It’s already mandatory in a lot of professions to be fair, and requests for it are increasing exponentially in many sectors.

 

Do you find it easier to teach coding online, or in person? Why?

I teach both, although mostly in person, however this depends on the student. I have had students that responded really well to online tuition whereas others needed for me to be next to them in order to help them understand particular concepts.

 

And finally…I read a story about a man who deleted his entire company with one line of bad code. Have you ever had, or seen, a coding disaster?

I don’t know about such a case, but on a certain level it is definitely possible. However, I had a university friend who accidentally lost his entire code for his dissertation, which trust me it was a lot of or work! So yes, mistakes can happen!

 

Brilliant, thanks so much for your time, Thomas. Cheers!

 

By David Bard

David is a Minerva Pro Tutor who specialises in humanities subjects at A Level and is a trained expert in the 7 + and 11 + exams. Outside of tutoring, David writes blogs about creative writing and everything that’s trending in education.