Children Learn Programming with Drones in Tome City, Miyagi

Explanation

In Tome City, Miyagi Prefecture, a class was held in which children used drones to learn programming. They assembled commands such as 'move forward,' 'turn right,' and 'rise' in sequence (a program) beforehand, then flew the drone according to that program.

Programming education has been compulsory in elementary schools since fiscal 2020. The goal is not to memorize a specific programming language but to develop 'computational thinking'—the ability to break down what you want to do into a logical sequence of instructions. Teaching materials with visible movement, like drones, let children immediately see the results of their commands, allowing them to enjoyably experience the 'trial and error' of noticing mistakes (bugs) and fixing them.

Computers only do exactly what they are told. That is precisely why the ability to 'give instructions accurately, without ambiguity' matters. When something doesn't move as intended, thinking about what went wrong and fixing it—repeating that process builds the ability to think logically.