INDUSTRY WATCH
WHILE THE RASPBERRY PI IS A GREAT RESOURCE FOR ENTRY-LEVEL LEARNING AND INSPIRING PEOPLE TO INCREASE THEIR DIGITAL APTITUDE , IT CAN ALSO BE USED FOR MORE ADVANCED PURPOSES SUCH AS LEARNING TO CODE SOFTWARE .
Digital Transformation is currently at the top of every CIO ’ s agenda . Investing in technology to enable virtual working and to serve customers digitally has become a matter of survival for many organisations . However , digital transformation is a cultural shift as well as a technological one . It is a process that requires digital upskilling at every level of business . According to the Veeam 2020 Data Protection Trends Report , almost half ( 43 %) of organisations in Middle East and Africa ( MEA ) say a lack of IT staff skills and expertise is preventing or has prevented them from moving forward with Digital Transformation . In a 2020 survey by PwC of CEOs in the Middle East , 70 % said the availability of key digital skills is a business threat .
While businesses can implement various learning initiatives to upskill employees and strategic partnerships can help businesses tap into a wider talent pool , steps to address this challenge need to start earlier . Schools are ultimately where the workforce of the future will be developed and where children develop interests that often set up them up for life .
With the Institute for the Future ( IFTF ) revealing that 85 % of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven ’ t even been invented yet , acquiring digital skills will become even more critical . Schools are where we need to be encouraging interest in technology and digital skills and educating students in new technologies .
Last year was a unique year for education . Schools across Middle East have at various stages had to close or pivot to virtual learning . This has meant parents and guardians have been responsible for ensuring children get the learning opportunities they need . As one would expect , this makes every child ’ s ‘ lockdown learning ’ experience unique . Moving forward , there is an opportunity to capitalise on the home-learning revolution and start the process of encouraging an interest in technology amongst young people , by giving them the chance to get hands-on and test concepts out in a safe environment
Affordable technologies such as the Raspberry Pi provide an accessible platform for mastering basic digital skills such as setting up and configuring a home computer , to more advanced practices such as coding and programming languages . Here are three recommendations for projects which could help children to understand some of the concepts they might already be picking up in science and IT lessons at school and bring them to life .
Digital DIY
The Raspberry Pi might only cost around US $ 36 , but it really is just a tiny computer . It ’ s been very successful , with over 36 million sold so far . As well as a native CPU it boasts enough ports and connection for you to create your own DIY PC . The device can consume and create content as it has a web browser , word processing , spreadsheets and access to YouTube . It can go as far as connecting the board to additional motors and controllers to create a simple robotics project or even running Minecraft Pi , which is a means of giving children the opportunity to learn and experiment with code whilst exploring and interacting with the Minecraft world at the same time .
Whatever you choose to do , the learning is in the doing . From working out what cables and connections that are needed , to doing the programming once things
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