A delightful way to teach kids about computers | Linda Liukas

翻译人员: Xiao Yang 校对人员: x Vicky

Code is the next universal language.

编码是下一个世界性的语言。

In the seventies, it was punk music that drove the whole generation.

七十年代，影响了一代人的，是朋克音乐。

In the eighties, it was probably money.

80年代，也许是金钱吧。

But for my generation of people,

而对我这代人来说，

software is the interface to our imagination and our world.

软件就是想象和世界的接口。

And that means that we need

这意味着我们需要

a radically, radically more diverse set of people

更多更多各式各样的人

to build those products,

来建造这些产品，

to not see computers as mechanical and lonely and boring and magic,

这些人不会把电脑视作神奇却呆板 、 孤独又无趣的东西，

to see them as things that they can tinker

而是把电脑看作是可以摆弄的，

and turn around and twist, and so forth.

可以改进的等等。

My personal journey into the world of programming and technology

我开始编程，初涉科技世界

started at the tender age of 14.

是在稚嫩的十四岁

I had this mad teenage crush on an older man,

那时，我疯狂迷恋着 一位年长男士，

and the older man in question just happened to be

这位男士正是

时任美国副总统的 阿尔·戈尔(AL Gore)先生。

the then Vice President of the United States, Mr. Al Gore.

And I did what every single teenage girl would want to do.

而我做了每个青春期女生 都想做的事。

I wanted to somehow express all of this love,

我想要表达自己对他的爱，

so I built him a website, it's over here.

因此，我为他建立了一个网站。 就是这个

And in 2001, there was no Tumblr,

那是2001年，彼时没有Tumblr，

there was no Facebook, there was no Pinterest.

没有Facebook， 也没有Pinterest

So I needed to learn to code

因此我需要学习编程

in order to express all of this longing and loving.

来表达我所有的憧憬和爱慕。

And that is how programming started for me.

这就是我如何开始编程的故事。

It started as a means of self-expression.

最初它于我而言， 是一种表达自我的方式。

Just like when I was smaller, I would use crayons and legos.

就像我小的时候， 会用蜡笔和乐高积木来表达。

And when I was older, I would use guitar lessons and theater plays.

长大些后，会用 吉他课和戏剧表演，来表达自己。

But then, there were other things to get excited about,

但那时，还有其它很多让人兴奋的东西，

like poetry and knitting socks

比如诗歌和织袜子，

and conjugating French irregular verbs

总结法语动词变位，

and coming up with make-believe worlds

构建虚幻世界，

and Bertrand Russell and his philosophy.

还有伯特兰·罗素(Bertrand Russell)以及他的哲学。

And I started to be one of those people

然后，我也开始和很多人一样，

who felt that computers are boring and technical and lonely.

认为计算机既无趣，又专业 还孤单。

Here's what I think today.

现在，我是这样想的。

Little girls don't know that they are not supposed to like computers.

小女孩们并不知道自己被认为是 不该喜欢电脑的。

Little girls are amazing.

小女孩们很厉害。

They are really, really good at concentrating on things

她们非常非常擅长于集中注意力

and being exact and they ask amazing questions like,

做事精确，她们还会提出 很多有意思的问题，比如

"What?" and "Why?" and "How?" and "What if?"

“什么？”，“为什么？”， “如何？” 以及“如果？”

And they don't know that they are not supposed to like computers.

她们并不知道自己被看作 不应该会喜欢电脑。

It's the parents who do.

是她们的父母会这样想。

It's us parents who feel

我们的父母认为

like computer science is this esoteric, weird science discipline

计算机科学是如此 深奥晦涩又稀奇古怪的领域

that only belongs to the mystery makers.

专属于那些制造奥秘的人

That it's almost as far removed from everyday life

它和日常生活的距离之远，

as, say, nuclear physics.

就像遥不可及的核物理一般。

And they are partly right about that.

他们的想法也有些道理。

There's a lot of syntax and controls and data structures

编程中有那么多语法，控制项和数据结构。

and algorithms and practices,

各种算法、实践

protocols and paradigms in programming.

以及协议和范式。

And we as a community, we've made computers smaller and smaller.

我们共同将电脑做得越来越小

We've built layers and layers of abstraction on top of each other

我们建立了层层叠叠的抽象概念

在人与机器之间

between the man and the machine

to the point that we no longer have any idea how computers work

直到我们都不再了解电脑 到底是如何工作的

or how to talk to them.

以及应当如何与之沟通

And we do teach our kids how the human body works,

我们会教给我们的孩子， 人体是如何工作的

we teach them how the combustion engine functions

教给他们内燃机的工作原理

and we even tell them that if you want to really be an astronaut

我们甚至会告诉孩子， 如果你真想要成为一名宇航员

you can become one.

你会做到的

But when the kid comes to us and asks,

可当我们的孩子跑来问我们

"So, what is a bubble sort algorithm?"

“那么，什么是冒泡排序法？”

Or, "How does the computer know what happens when I press 'play,'

或者：“当我按下执行键，电脑怎么知道要做什么？”

how does it know which video to show?"

“它怎么知道放哪一个视频？”

Or, "Linda, is Internet a place?"

又或者，“琳达， 网络是一个地方吗？”

We adults, we grow oddly silent.

我们成年人，会异常沉默

"It's magic," some of us say.

有些人会说：“它有神奇的力量。”

"It's too complicated," the others say.

还有些人会说：“这太复杂了。”

Well, it's neither.

嗯，其实都不是。

It's not magic and it's not complicated.

它并不神奇也并不复杂

It all just happened really, really, really fast.

只是这一切发生得十分，非常，特别快

Computer scientists built these amazing, beautiful machines,

计算机专家制造了这些美好又奇妙的机器。

but they made them very, very foreign to us,

却又让我们对它们十分陌生

and also the language we speak to the computers

电脑对我们沟通的语言也同样如此

so that we don't know how to speak to the computers anymore

因此，离开了精美的用户界面。 我们便不知道如何与电脑交流

without our fancy user interfaces.

And that's why no one recognized

这也是为什么，没人发现

that when I was conjugating French irregular verbs,

当我研究法语动词变位时

I was actually practicing my pattern recognition skills.

实际上，我锻炼的是自己的模式识别技能

And when I was excited about knitting,

当我十分开心地织袜子时，

I actually was following a sequence of symbolic commands

我实际上正是遵循一串符号指令，

that included loops inside of them.

包含了众多循环命令。

And that Bertrand Russell's lifelong quest

伯特兰•罗素终其一生，追求

to find an exact language between English and mathematics

在英语与数学中，找到一种准确的语言

found its home inside of a computer.

这一追求，最终在电脑中找到归宿

I was a programmer, but no one knew it.

我那时就已然是个程序师，但没人知道。

The kids of today, they tap, swipe and pinch their way through the world.

如今的孩子们，终日把玩电脑

But unless we give them tools to build with computers,

但除非我们给他们工具，让他们能够利用电脑构建世界

we are raising only consumers instead of creators.

我们培养的就只是消费者，而不是创造者。

This whole quest led me to this little girl.

这一追求过程让我想到这个小女孩

Her name is Ruby, she is six years old.

她叫Ruby（也是一种编程语言的名字），六岁

She is completely fearless, imaginative and a little bit bossy.

她无所畏惧，富有想象力，又有那么点强势

And every time I would run into a problem

每当我处理问题时

in trying to teach myself programming like,

每当我学习编程，学习诸如

"What is object-oriented design or what is garbage collection?",

何为面对对象设计？何为碎片帐集？

I would try to imagine how a six-year-old little girl would explain the problem.

我都会想象一个六岁的女孩会如何解释这些问题

And I wrote a book about her and I illustrated it

我为她写了一本书，并加以说明

and the things Ruby taught me go like this.

Ruby教会我

Ruby taught me that you're not supposed to be afraid

“不要害怕床下的那些虫子“

of the bugs under your bed.

And even the biggest of the problems

还有，“即使再大的问题

are a group of tiny problems stuck together.

也是由众多小问题构成的罢了“

And Ruby also introduced me to her friends,

Ruby还向我引荐了她的朋友们

the colorful side of the Internet culture.

也就是网络文化多彩的一面

She has friends like the Snow Leopard,

比如雪豹（OS X操作系统的一个版本）

who is beautiful but doesn't want to play with the other kids.

它很漂亮，但不喜欢和别的小朋友玩。

And she has friends like the green robots that are really friendly but super messy.

还有绿色机器人，也是Ruby的朋友， 十分友好，却很散乱

And she has friends like Linux the penguin

她还有朋友，比如Linux 企鹅，

who's really ruthlessly efficient, but somewhat hard to understand.

十分冷酷高效，却有些难搞

And idealistic foxes, and so on.

还有理想主义的狐狸等等

In Ruby's world, you learn technology through play.

在Ruby的世界，你通过玩来学习科技

And, for instance, computers are really good at repeating stuff,

比如，电脑十分擅长做重复工作

so the way Ruby would teach loops goes like this.

因此Ruby会教我这样用循环

This is Ruby's favorite dance move, it goes, "Clap, clap, stomp, stomp

这是Ruby最喜欢的舞蹈动作

像这样： “拍，拍，踏，踏”

clap, clap and jump."

“拍，拍，跳”

And you learn counter loops by repeating that four times.

这样重复了四遍，你就学会了counter循环

And you learn while loops by repeating that sequence

同样，当我一只脚站立，重复这个排列时， 你又学会了 while循环

while I'm standing on one leg.

And you learn until loops by repeating that sequence

而当你一直重复这个排列，直到惹怒了老妈， 你就知道什么是until循环了

until mom gets really mad.

(Laughter)

（笑）

And most of all, you learn that there are no ready answers.

最主要的是，你明白了， 没有现成答案

When coming up with the curriculum for Ruby's world,

当我要设计一个介绍Ruby世界的课程时

I needed to really ask the kids how they see the world

我想要真正问问孩子们， 他们是如何看待这个世界的

and what kind of questions they have

以及他们有什么样问题。

and I would organize play testing sessions.

然后我会安排游戏测试环节

I would start by showing the kids these four pictures.

刚开始，我向孩子们展示这四幅图

I would show them a picture of a car,

我给他们看的画上有辆车

a grocery store, a dog and a toilet.

有家杂货铺，一条狗和一个马桶

And I would ask, "Which one of these do you think is a computer?"

接着我问他们：“你们觉得这些东西中，哪样是电脑？”

And the kids would be very conservative and go,

孩子们会十分谨慎

"None of these is a computer.

说：“哈，这里面才没有电脑呢，

I know what a computer is:

我可知道电脑长啥样哦！

it's that glowing box

就是那个会发光的盒子

in front of which mom or dad spends way too much time."

就是爸妈老花时间玩的那个东西“

But then we would talk

之后，我们会讨论

and we would discover that actually, a car is a computer,

我们会发现，原来，车也是一台电脑

it has a navigation system inside of it.

它里面有导航系统

And a dog -- a dog might not be a computer,

还有狗，狗可能不是台电脑

but it has a collar

但他带着个项圈，

and the collar might have a computer inside of it.

这个项圈里可能有电脑

And grocery stores, they have so many different kinds of computers,

杂货店里，就更是有很多种电脑了

like the cashier system and the burglar alarms.

有收银机，还有防盗器

And kids, you know what?

孩子们，你们知道吗

In Japan, toilets are computers

在日本，马桶也是电脑呢

and there's even hackers who hack them.

甚至有黑客攻击它呢

(Laughter)

（笑）

And we go further

而后，更进一步。

and I give them these little stickers with an on/off button on them.

我给了他们一些贴纸，上面有开关按钮

And I tell the kids, "Today you have this magic ability

然后我告诉孩子们：“今天你们有魔力，

to make anything in this room into a computer."

能把房间里任何东西都变成电脑。“

And again, the kids go,

结果，孩子们又说

"Sounds really hard, I don't know the right answer for this."

“听起来好难的样子，我不知道正确答案呀”

But I tell them, "Don't worry,

但我告诉他们：“别怕，

your parents don't know the right answer, either.

你爸妈也不知道正确答案。

They've just started to hear about this thing

他们才刚听说这些东西

called The Internet of Things.

这个叫做网络的玩意儿

But you kids, you are going to be the ones

但你们这些孩子， 你们会居住在这样一个世界

who are really going to live up in a world where everything is a computer."

周围所有东西都是电脑。”

And then I had this little girl who came to me

然后，有个小女孩走向我

and took a bicycle lamp

拿着一个自行车灯

and she said, "This bicycle lamp, if it were a computer,

说：“这个自行车灯，如果是台电脑的话，

it would change colors."

它就会变色“

And I said, "That's a really good idea, what else could it do?"

我说：“这想法好棒啊，那它还能做什么吗？”

And she thinks and she thinks,

小女孩想了又想

and she goes, "If this bicycle lamp were a computer,

她说：“如果这个自行车灯是台电脑，

we could go on a biking trip with my father

我们就能和我爸爸一起去骑车旅行

and we would sleep in a tent

在帐篷里睡觉

and this biking lamp could also be a movie projector."

这个自行车灯也可以变成一个电影放映机。”

And that's the moment I'm looking for,

这就是我想要的时刻！

the moment when the kid realizes

在这一时刻，孩子们意识到

that the world is definitely not ready yet,

世界还远没有妥善到位

that a really awesome way of making the world more ready

想要让世界变得更完善，有一个好方法

is by building technology

就是开发科技。

and that each one of us can be a part of that change.

我们每个人都可能成为改变中的一部分。

Final story, we also built a computer.

最后，我们还造了一台电脑

And we got to know the bossy CPU and the helpful RAM and ROM

我们知道了发号司令的中央处理器(CPU)，

和十分有用的随机存储器(RAM)， 以及帮助电脑记忆一切的只读存储器(ROM)

that help it remember things.

And after we've assembled our computer together,

之后，我们将电脑组装起来，

we also design an application for it.

为它设计了程序

And my favorite story is this little boy,

我最喜欢的故事是这个小男孩

he's six years old

他六岁，

and his favorite thing in the world is to be an astronaut.

在这世上最喜欢的事就是成为宇航员。

And the boy, he has these huge headphones on

小男孩头戴大耳机

and he's completely immersed in his tiny paper computer

完全着迷于他那小小的，纸质电脑。

because you see, he's built his own

因为，你看，他自己做了一个

intergalactic planetary navigation application.

能穿越星球星际的导航程序

And his father, the lone astronaut in the Martian orbit,

他的父亲，一名位于火星轨道的，孤单的宇航员

is on the other side of the room

就在房间的另一边

and the boy's important mission

男孩的重大使命便是

is to bring the father safely back to earth.

将他爸爸安全带回地球

And these kids are going to have a profoundly different view of the world

关于世界，以及我们如何用科技构建世界。 这些孩子将建立一个完全不同的认知

and the way we build it with technology.

Finally, the more approachable, the more inclusive,

最后，越是亲切、包容，多样的科技手段 就越会让

and the more diverse we make the world of technology,

the more colorful and better the world will look like.

我们的世界变得更好，更多彩

So, imagine with me, for a moment,

所以，我们来一起想象一下

a world where the stories we tell

这样一个世界，在这里， 我们所说的故事

about how things get made don't only include

关于事物如何被创造的故事，不仅仅关于

the twentysomething-year-old Silicon Valley boys,

二十来岁的硅谷男孩

but also Kenyan schoolgirls and Norwegian librarians.

也关于肯尼亚女学生，和挪威图书管理员

Imagine a world where the little Ada Lovelaces of tomorrow,

想象这样一个世界，

那里有明日的小阿达·洛芙莱斯(Ada Lovelaces,最早的“程序媛”)

who live in a permanent reality of 1s and 0s,

居住在永恒的0和1的世界里

they grow up to be very optimistic and brave about technology.

他们长大，积极又勇敢地看待科技

They embrace the powers and the opportunities

他们拥抱了这世界的力量、机会和限制，

and the limitations of the world.

A world of technology that is wonderful, whimsical

这个科技世界既精妙绝伦又有些光怪陆离。

and a tiny bit weird.

When I was a girl,

当我是个小女孩时

I wanted to be a storyteller.

我想要成为一个讲故事的人

I loved make-believe worlds

我喜欢虚幻世界

and my favorite thing to do

我最想要做的便是

was to wake up in the mornings in Moominvalley.

清晨醒来，身在姆明谷（Moominvalley）

In the afternoons, I would roam around the Tatooines.

下午漫步在塔图因星球（Tatooine）

And in the evenings, I would go to sleep in Narnia.

晚上，再在纳尼亚的世界中安睡。

And programming turned out to be the perfect profession for me.

因此编程成为我的绝佳职业

I still create worlds.

我仍能创造世界

Instead of stories, I do them with code.

但不是说故事，而是通过编程

Programming gives me this amazing power

编程赋予我这一神奇的力量

to build my whole little universe

使我能够建立自己的一方小天地

with its own rules and paradigms and practices.

按照自己的规则、范式和实践

Create something out of nothing with the pure power of logic.

依靠逻辑的纯粹力量， 实现从无到有的创造。

Thank you.

谢谢！

(Applause)

（掌声）