What if you could learn to code just by learning a few commands that match the way we speak or write?

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology have shown off that for a few tasks, such as tweaking word processing documents and spreadsheets, people could use natural language as opposed to specific programming languages. As we spend more time in our digital worlds, making the manipulation of that world easier for everyone is the goal behind several startups such as IFTTTCodecademy or even ARB Labs, and is an essential ingredient for further breakthroughs.

The researchers in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory demonstrated their findings using productivity software, but their methods might also work for other programming tasks. While it’s not exactly clear from the MIT release how this will work in practice, it’s awesome that such research is even happening. Giving more people the…

A practical guide for using Raspberry Pi in class –

This is a modified version of an article I was asked to write for The Guardian Teacher Network.

What exactly is the Raspberry Pi?

Computer Science pioneer, Seymour Papert wrote, “The role of the teacher is to create the conditions for invention rather than provide ready-made knowledge”. The credit-card sized, low-powered Raspberry Pi computer, costing about the same price as a textbook (£18) is one tool that can be used to help create these conditions. Designed and manufactured in the UK, the aim of this computer is to encourage children to tinker and experiment with computing technology at a very low financial risk, but offering massive educational value in return. The unconventional, bare-bones appearance of the Raspberry Pi computer frequently prompts more questions than it answers. In education, that is surely a good thing, for outstanding teaching is more…