Author: Philip Huffman

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1500 Hours of complementary classes

1500 hours

Zebra Robotics is happy to reach a milestone of providing over 1500 hours of complimentary coding classes to students across Canada. Through a series of weekly and daily classes, students were introduced to variety of programming languages such as web design, game development, app development .

In these instructor led virtual classes, students get to try hands on activities on their computer from home. Weekly webinars introduced several technolgy topics to students. Some of these topics tool the students on a journey to learn what is inside a computer and understand how internet works.

“Community outreach has always been part of our growth” says Sharmila Govindarajan, Co-Founder of Zebra Robotics, “we are glad to be able to contribute positively to the society during these challenging times.”

“Providing same high quality program, in virtual class environment has been our focus. Several positive feedback from parents and students is reassuring for us” said Satish Thiyagarajan, Co-Founder of Zebra Robotics.

This news comes in the wake of many recent initiatives and accomplishments of the company, including:

  • Migrating 20 robotics and coding courses to be offered virtually.
  • Opening a new location in Cary, NC to cater to the US customers

“Best class ever” said Anokhi, one of the student who attended a Webinar session. ” It is a way to reach the students, and connect with them, given that we are all struck at home”, said Coach Tahmoor Naeem. “I found it hard to adapt to online teaching, as I am used to being in the classroom and teching kids how to build robots. But after couple of classes, we got into a rhythm, students and I learnt how to communcate without talking over each other, how to share screen when someone needs help”

“We are a nimble company with a proven curriculum, passionate and talented coaching staff” says Jayendra Balasubramanian, Co-Founder at Zebra Robotics. “Our team raised to the challenge and migrated all of our courses to be offered virtually in a matter of days in March, without missing a beat, thereby providing an opportunity for students to continue learning virtually”.

“Thanks to the support from the Government, we are able to sustain our operations during these tough times and set the stage for growth when we emerge out of this” says Sharmila Govindarajan.

About Zebra Robotics Inc.: Started 6 years back in Mississauga, Zebra Robotics has grown to operate in 4 locations, serving over 10,000 students, in Canada, US and India. Zebra Robotics students have won 47 awards in 67 competitions at various levels over the years. Knowledgeable instructors and an extensive course offering made in-house by our experienced and passionate staff with a visionary leadership team, sets up apart with a goal to mentor future generation. 

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Want to learn real coding ?

As you might have heard, in the future there will be two kinds of people. One who knows to code and the rest who wish they know. There is a rush to learn and introduce kids to code at an early age. Major coporations like Microsoft, Google, and Facebook to name a few have invested several millions of dollars to get kids excited about coding.

CRoC Coding Hackathon
Croc COding Hackathon

But Why?

As per the authors of The Second Machine Age,  Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, Human development index has accelerated in the last few decades, and is on a vertical trajectory. It is mainly fueled by revolution in the Information Technology field. Coding has become mainstream and the need for everyone to know how to code will be considered an essential skill in the future.

Image courtesy: The Second Machine Age

Per a recent survey in North America, close a million jobs paying over $100,000/year will go unfilled with no qualifying candidates to choose from. That is a major problem for the coporations, as we are automating everything now, be it on the factory floor or legal work or shopping or even health care diagnosis. Coding, which provides Artificial Intelligence, powers everything. We need more people who can code.

But where do you start. I’d say ,start early and continue to learn through your life. Technology is changing at a rapid pace. What was revolutionary few years back is common feature few yers later. You want to keep yourself upto date.

Which course is right for my kid?

With so many places that teaches Coding, it can be a daunting task to choose the right place and correct coding language to start with. It is important to not get influenced by fancy jargons. Instead focus on choosing a programming language that is age appropriate. For example, when some one tells me that their Grade 4 kid knows Python, or Java becaue they learned from ‘that’ place, I am skeptical. Many places tell parents that their kid is learning to program in high level languages, when in fact they are using block-based coding, which creates Python or Java code behind it.

It is important for kids to learn the right way, and it helps if it is age appropriate. I know everyone’s kid is a little genius, but un reasonable expectation may dissuade that kid from persuing coding as they grow.

At Zebra Robotics, we always want to take our students to the level where they learn real programming languages as early as in middle school. Prior to that they focus on learning coding concepts in a fun way.

High school and middle school students learn real programming languages such as Python, Java, JavaScript, C++ and other languages that provide solid foundation when students are ready for universities. Just as learning Math or music is not an one week activity, learning to Code isn’t either. Mastery of text based programming languages, trains your way of thinking and takes time. Thinking logically and troubleshooting eventually becomes second nature.

We hope you will be interested to learn to code. Call us or walk to one of our locations to try our courses. Who knows your student may fall in love with coding, as many of our students have discovered themselves.