Hedy: Creating a Programming Language for Everyone • Felienne Hermans • YOW! 2023

This presentation was recorded at YOW! Australia 2023. #GOTOcon #YOW Felienne Hermans - Author of “The Programmer’s Brain”, Creator of the Hedy Programming Language @felienne RESOURCES Felienne ABSTRACT Software is playing an increasing role in everyone’s lives, and therefore it is important (and fun!) for kids to become creators in the digital world. However, existing programming languages are not necessarily designed for learnability, with cryptic error messages and a lack of easily accessible resources. In this talk, Felienne will outline what issues existing tools have, and how these issues disproportionally affect underrepresented minorities in programming including girls, kids with disabilities and non-English learners. She will then outline her story of inventing and creating Hedy, an inclusive, multi-lingual and gradual programming language for learners. Hedy is open source, runs in the browser, is free to use, and available in 47 different languages (Including English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and Hindi). Hedy was launched in early 2020 and now serves about monthly users (Try it for free at !). [...] TIMECODES 00:00 Intro 04:45 What is the goal of programming education? 09:30 Everybody needs some programming skills! 13:33 Compilers are lovely teachers 20:20 How do people learn? 26:15 Hedy is gradual 39:39 Tools for teaching ≠ Tools for learning 54:39 Past / Future 01:04:43 Outro Download slides and read the full abstract here: RECOMMENDED BOOKS Felienne Hermans • The Programmer’s Brain • Adrienne Tacke • Coding for Kids: Python • Bryson Payne • Teach Your Kids to Code • Craig Steele • Help Your Kids with Computer Coding • Daniel Kahneman • Thinking, Fast and Slow • Jon Woodcock • Coding Games in Scratch • #Hedy #Programming #ProgrammingTutorial #TeachingKids #LearnToCode #KidsLearnToCode #HowToCode #Pedagogy #Python #PythonProgramming #GradualProgramming #Scratch #ScratchProgramming #Syntax #FelienneHermans #YOWcon Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket at Sign up for updates and specials at SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL - new videos posted almost daily.