A delightful way to teach kids about computers | Linda Liukas

譯者: Ann Chen 審譯者: 易帆 余

Code is the next universal language.

程式碼是下一個世界的共通語言。

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

七十年代，龐克族音樂引領整個世代，

In the eighties, it was probably money.

八十年代，可能是金錢吧！

But for my generation of people,

但到我這一代，

software is the interface to our imagination and our world.

軟體是我們的幻想與世界的介面，

And that means that we need

這意謂著我們需要

a radically, radically more diverse set of people

更多更多各式各樣的人

to build those products,

來製造這種產品，

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

這些人不會把電腦看為機械式、 孤獨、無聊與神奇的，

to see them as things that they can tinker

他們會把電腦看成是

and turn around and twist, and so forth.

可以改進的、可以變好的等等。

My personal journey into the world of programming and technology

我個人的程式設計與 科技世界的旅程，

started at the tender age of 14.

從我稚嫩的 14 歲開始。

I had this mad teenage crush on an older man,

我狂熱地迷上了一位年紀比我大的男士，

and the older man in question just happened to be

而這位男士恰好是

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

那時的美國副總統艾爾．高爾先生。

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

而我做了一件每一個青少女 都會想要做的事情，

I wanted to somehow express all of this love,

我要以某種方式表達我全部的愛慕，

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

所以我為他做了一個網站，就在這裡。

And in 2001, there was no Tumblr,

在 2001 年，那時沒有 Tumblr、

there was no Facebook, there was no Pinterest.

沒有 Facebook、沒有 Pinterest。

So I needed to learn to code

所以我需要學編寫程式，

in order to express all of this longing and loving.

來表達我全部的渴望與愛意。

And that is how programming started for me.

這就是我如何開始編寫程式。

It started as a means of self-expression.

它開始是一種自我表達的手段，

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

就像我還小的時候， 我會用蠟筆和樂高積木來表達。

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

當我大些，我會利用 吉他課程及戲劇表演。

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

然後，還有其他令人興奮的事，

like poetry and knitting socks

例如詩歌及織襪子、

and conjugating French irregular verbs

練習法文的不規則動詞變化、

and coming up with make-believe worlds

自創的幻想世界、

and Bertrand Russell and his philosophy.

還有伯特蘭．羅素以及他的哲學。

And I started to be one of those people

然後我開始變成那些

who felt that computers are boring and technical and lonely.

覺得電腦是無聊的、 專業的和孤獨的人之一。

現在我是這樣認為：

Here's what I think today.

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

小女孩不知道她們被認為不該喜歡電腦。

Little girls are amazing.

小女孩是很厲害的，

They are really, really good at concentrating on things

她們非常非常擅於專注在事物上，

and being exact and they ask amazing questions like,

又很精準，而且她們會問一些奇妙問題，

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

像「是什麼？」「為什麼？」 「怎麼樣？」「如果？」

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

她們不知道她們被認為不該喜歡電腦。

It's the parents who do.

是父母們這樣認為的。

It's us parents who feel

是我們父母覺得

like computer science is this esoteric, weird science discipline

電腦科學是一門難懂又詭異的學科，

that only belongs to the mystery makers.

那是專屬於製造神秘的人的。

That it's almost as far removed from everyday life

它幾乎就像離日常生活 遙不可及的核子物理學一樣。

as, say, nuclear physics.

And they are partly right about that.

他們部份是對的。

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

編寫程式中是有許多語法、 控制項、資料結構、

and algorithms and practices,

演算法、演練、

protocols and paradigms in programming.

通訊協定以及程式範例。

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

我們一起將電腦做得越來越小，

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

我們在人與機器之間，

between the man and the machine

建立了層層疊疊的抽象觀念。

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

一直到我們不再了解 電腦是如何運作的

or how to talk to them.

或如何與電腦溝通。

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

我們有教孩子，人體是如何運作的，

we teach them how the combustion engine functions

我們教他們，內燃機是如何作用的，

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

我們甚至告訴他們： 如果你真的要成為太空人，

you can become one.

你會辦得到的。

But when the kid comes to us and asks,

但當孩子來問我們：

"So, what is a bubble sort algorithm?"

「什麼是冒泡排序演算法？」

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

或「當我按 “執行” 時， 電腦怎麼知道它要做什麼？

how does it know which video to show?"

它怎麼知道要放映那部影片呢？」

Or, "Linda, is Internet a place?"

或是：「琳達！ 網際網路是一個地方嗎？」

We adults, we grow oddly silent.

我們大人變得異常安靜。

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

「它有神奇力量！」有些人會說。

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

「它太複雜了！」另一些人會說。

Well, it's neither.

嗯！其實兩個都不是。

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

它既沒有神奇力量，也不複雜。

It all just happened really, really, really fast.

只是這一切發生得太快太快了！

Computer scientists built these amazing, beautiful machines,

電腦科學家製造了這些驚人美妙的機器，

but they made them very, very foreign to us,

但卻讓我們對它非常非常陌生。

and also the language we speak to the computers

也讓電腦對於我們溝通的語言也很陌生，

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

以致於如果沒有巧妙的使用者介面， 我們就不知道如何與電腦溝通了。

without our fancy user interfaces.

And that's why no one recognized

這就是為什麼沒有人看出

that when I was conjugating French irregular verbs,

當我在做法文的不規則動詞變化時，

I was actually practicing my pattern recognition skills.

事實上我是在做 ‘模式識別技巧’ 練習。

And when I was excited about knitting,

當我對編織感到很興奮時，

I actually was following a sequence of symbolic commands

事實上我是在遵循一串符號指令，

that included loops inside of them.

包括好幾個在裡面的重複指令。

And that Bertrand Russell's lifelong quest

伯特蘭．羅素終其一生的追求，

to find an exact language between English and mathematics

在英文與數學之間找一種精確的語言，

found its home inside of a computer.

這追求就在電腦裡找到了歸宿。

I was a programmer, but no one knew it.

我那時就是個程式設計師， 但沒有人知道。

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

現代的孩子終日把玩電腦，

But unless we give them tools to build with computers,

除非我們給他們內含電腦的製造工具，

we are raising only consumers instead of creators.

否則我們只是在培育一群消費者， 而不是創造者。

This whole quest led me to this little girl.

整個追求過程帶領我 遇到這個小女孩，

Her name is Ruby, she is six years old.

她是六歲的露比，

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

她膽子很大並且富想像力， 還有一點霸道。

And every time I would run into a problem

每次我遇到一個有關

in trying to teach myself programming like,

自我教育寫程式的問題，

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

例如：「物件導向設計是什麼？ 或是垃坄回收是什麼？」

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

我就會試著想像一個六歲小女孩 會如何解釋這問題。

And I wrote a book about her and I illustrated it

我寫了一本有關她的書，並畫了插圖，

and the things Ruby taught me go like this.

描述露比教我的事情就像這樣。

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

露比教我 「我不認為妳應該怕

of the bugs under your bed.

床底下的蟲子」。

And even the biggest of the problems

還有「即使是最大的問題

are a group of tiny problems stuck together.

也是一群小問題湊在一起而已」。

And Ruby also introduced me to her friends,

露比也將我介紹給她朋友，

the colorful side of the Internet culture.

他們是網路文化多彩多姿的一面。

She has friends like the Snow Leopard,

她有朋友，例如雪豹，

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

它很美可是不想和其他小朋友一起玩。

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

她有朋友，像綠能機器人， 十分友善但超極散亂。

And she has friends like Linux the penguin

她有朋友，像名叫 Linux 的企鵝，

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

十分冷酷地有效率，但有點讓人難以了解。

And idealistic foxes, and so on.

還有理想主義的狐狸等等。

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

露比的世界是透過遊玩學技術。

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

又譬如，電腦很擅長於重複的事物，

so the way Ruby would teach loops goes like this.

所以露比教我像這樣用重複指令。

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

這是露比最喜歡的舞蹈動作： “拍、拍、踩、踩、

clap, clap and jump."

拍、拍、跳“。

And you learn counter loops by repeating that four times.

這樣重複四次， 就可學會counter計數器迴圈，

And you learn while loops by repeating that sequence

當我單腳站，重複這個排序時， 就學會了 while 迴圈。

while I'm standing on one leg.

And you learn until loops by repeating that sequence

而當你一直重複那個排序，直到你媽氣瘋了 你就了解甚麼是 until 迴圈了。

until mom gets really mad.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

最重要是你學到的是沒有現成的答案。

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

當我要設計一個 訴說露比世界的課程時，

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

我需要真正地問孩子們， 他們是如何看這世界的，

and what kind of questions they have

以及他們有什麼樣的問題，

and I would organize play testing sessions.

然後我會安排些遊戲測試。

I would start by showing the kids these four pictures.

一開始我會給孩子們看四張圖片，

I would show them a picture of a car,

一張是一部車的圖片，

a grocery store, a dog and a toilet.

還有雜貨店．一隻狗和一個馬桶的圖片。

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

接著我會問：「這些之中， 你認為那一個是電腦？」

And the kids would be very conservative and go,

孩子們會非常嚴肅地說：

"None of these is a computer.

「這裡沒有一個是電腦，

I know what a computer is:

我知道電腦是什麼：

it's that glowing box

它是一個會讓媽媽或爸爸

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

在它面前花很多時間的發光盒子。」

But then we would talk

然後我們會討論，

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

並且發現其實車子就是一部電腦，

it has a navigation system inside of it.

它裡面有導航系統。

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

狗或許不是電腦，

but it has a collar

但它有個項圈，

and the collar might have a computer inside of it.

項圈內可能有個電腦。

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

雜貨店裡有各式各樣的電腦，

like the cashier system and the burglar alarms.

例如收銀機及防盜警報器。

And kids, you know what?

孩子們，你們知道嗎？

In Japan, toilets are computers

在日本，馬桶是電腦，

and there's even hackers who hack them.

甚至駭客也會駭入它們。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And we go further

再進一步地，

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

我給他們一些在上面有開關按鈕的貼紙，

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

然後我告訴孩子：「今天你們有魔力，

to make anything in this room into a computer."

能將這房間裡的任何東西都變成電腦。」

And again, the kids go,

然後孩子們又說了：

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

「聽起來很難，我不知道正確答案。」

But I tell them, "Don't worry,

我告訴他們：「別擔心，

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

你們父母親也不知道正確答案。

They've just started to hear about this thing

他們只是才開始聽說有這個

called The Internet of Things.

叫『網際網路』的東西。

But you kids, you are going to be the ones

但是孩子們，你們會活在一個

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

所有的東西都是電腦的世界。」

And then I had this little girl who came to me

然後有位小女孩走向我，

and took a bicycle lamp

手裡拿著一個腳踏車車燈，

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

她說：「如果這腳踏車車燈是個電腦，

it would change colors."

它會變各種顏色。」

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

我說：「這真是個好主意。 它還可以做其它什麼嗎？」

And she thinks and she thinks,

她想了又想，

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

然後回答：「如果這腳踏車車燈是個電腦，

we could go on a biking trip with my father

我們就能和我爸爸騎腳踏去旅行，

and we would sleep in a tent

我們可以睡在帳篷裡，

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

這腳踏車車燈也可當電影放映機。」

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

這正是我期待的一刻！

the moment when the kid realizes

這一刻當孩子們明瞭

that the world is definitely not ready yet,

這世界肯定尚未準備就緒，

that a really awesome way of making the world more ready

讓這世界更能準備就緒的最棒方法

is by building technology

就是開發技術。

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

而我們每個人都能成為這改變的一部份。

Final story, we also built a computer.

最後一個故事，我們還建立了一台電腦，

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

我們知道了發號施令的「中央處理器」 及有幫忙的「隨機存取記憶體」

that help it remember things.

和幫電腦記住一切的「唯讀記憶體」

And after we've assembled our computer together,

在我們將電腦組裝之後，

we also design an application for it.

我們也為它設計了應用程式。

And my favorite story is this little boy,

我特別喜愛的故事是這位小男孩，

he's six years old

他六歲，

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

在這世上最喜愛的一件事 就是成為太空人。

And the boy, he has these huge headphones on

這小男孩戴著很大的耳機，

and he's completely immersed in his tiny paper computer

完全沉醉在他的小紙張電腦裡。

because you see, he's built his own

你看！他創造了自己的

intergalactic planetary navigation application.

星際宇宙導航應用程式。

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

他的爸爸 ─在火星軌道上唯一的太空人─

is on the other side of the room

在這房間的另一邊，

and the boy's important mission

這小男孩的重要任務

is to bring the father safely back to earth.

就是將他爸爸安全地帶回地球。

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

這些孩子將會對這世界及我們用科技 創造世界的方法有截然不同的看法。

and the way we build it with technology.

Finally, the more approachable, the more inclusive,

最後，越是平易近人就越能包羅萬象；

and the more diverse we make the world of technology,

我們創造這世界的技術越多樣化，

the more colorful and better the world will look like.

這世界就會看起來越多彩多姿且越好。

So, imagine with me, for a moment,

所以，和我一起想像一個世界，

a world where the stories we tell

我們說了個故事：這世界裡

about how things get made don't only include

東西是如何被創造出的， 它不只是包括

the twentysomething-year-old Silicon Valley boys,

二十多歲的矽谷男孩，

but also Kenyan schoolgirls and Norwegian librarians.

也包括肯亞的女學生及挪威圖書館員。

Imagine a world where the little Ada Lovelaces of tomorrow,

想像一個世界，那兒 未來的小愛達．勒芙蕾絲

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

她的世界就是 1 和 0，

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

他們長大後對科技既樂觀又勇敢。

They embrace the powers and the opportunities

他們擁抱了這世界的力量、機會與限制。

and the limitations of the world.

A world of technology that is wonderful, whimsical

一個美好、新奇別緻

and a tiny bit weird.

又有點古怪的科技世界。

When I was a girl,

當我還是個小女孩，

I wanted to be a storyteller.

我想成為一個說故事的人。

I loved make-believe worlds

我愛虛幻世界，

and my favorite thing to do

我最喜歡做的事

was to wake up in the mornings in Moominvalley.

就是早上在姆明谷醒來，

In the afternoons, I would roam around the Tatooines.

下午在塔圖因行星漫遊，

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

晚上則睡在納尼亞裡，

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

而程式設計成為我最理想的職業。

I still create worlds.

我仍然在創造世界，

Instead of stories, I do them with code.

但不是說故事，而是編寫程式。

Programming gives me this amazing power

程式設計給了我神奇力量

to build my whole little universe

去建立我整個小宇宙

with its own rules and paradigms and practices.

有它自己的規則、範例和演練。

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

用邏輯的單純力量去創造出「從無到有」吧！

Thank you.

謝謝！

(Applause)

（掌聲）