At The Young Maker, we’re on a mission to equip young learners with the digital skills they need to thrive in today’s fast-paced, tech-driven world. Recently, our co-founders, Steph Tan and Dave Chen, joined Susan on CNA 938 Live to share insights into our journey, our unique approach to coding education, and our upcoming participation in the Digital for Life Festival.
For the full podcast episode, listen here as Steph and Dave discuss The Young Maker’s journey, goals, and passion for creating a digitally inclusive society.
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Host: Joining me this morning are Steph Tan and Dave Chen, co-founders of The Young Maker. They conduct coding classes for children. Steph and Dave, thank you very much for joining me today.
Steph & Dave: Thank you very much, Suzanne. Thanks for having us here today.
Host: Thank you very much for making time. Steph, start us off by sharing your journey to starting this business of yours called The Young Maker.
Steph: Yep, definitely. So, The Young Maker. We were actually founded back in 2020 by a team of four, of which all of us came from different backgrounds, but we all share a common vision. So, the four of us, we actually only embarked upon our coding journey when we were back in college, and we all had a shared experience where we found the learning curve way too steep and the process often too challenging and without the right resources.
And also because we actually realized that this gap existed widely, we wanted to reimagine the entire coding education to make it more accessible and also more enjoyable for everyone, especially all our young learners out there. In order to extend this mission, we then ventured into the ed-tech space and launched our Codemaker platform, which is a gamified and personalized learning platform that brings fun and flexibility to coding education, whereby students are now able to learn at their own pace, while building confidence in their skills.
Host: And you reach out to quite young children as well, Steph, in your classes?
Steph: Yeah, that’s right. So, we actually reach out to students as young as four years old.
Host: They only take to it like ducks to water. I love it!
Steph: Yeah. They love it, yeah. And they are really so good at it. Sometimes it’s really quite intriguing as well. When we come across students as young as three to four years old, and how quickly they actually pick up things—it’s actually amazing. You know, how they are so adaptive to all these new technologies that are everywhere.
Host: It is amazing, I have to say. And I know for adults trying to learn it, it can be quite tough. It’s like, you know, one step forward and then five steps back when you’re trying to understand everything. Dave, you guys have a passion for tech, for education, for children. I mean, how do you combine all of these into what you offer at The Young Maker?
Dave: Yeah. Suzanne, so at The Young Maker, we aspire to equip our students with the skills and confidence to thrive in a world that is really becoming increasingly tech-driven and very, very fast-paced. So, technology is evolving so quickly, and with so much to learn, it can feel very overwhelming, especially for those who are new to programming, like you said, like adults.
So, I know this feeling very well too. Like what Steph mentioned, I only started learning to code in university, and it was one of the most stressful experiences I had in my life. That’s why I’m very passionate about making learning fun and accessible. I believe that learning to code doesn’t have to be a daunting task. It should be easy to pick up when we teach through gamified methods, which are usually more engaging for kids.
Here at The Young Maker, we teach programming through interactive projects like building games and animations, which is a medium that kids already enjoy. And we are trying to help make the topic more engaging and less scary for our students who join us.
Host: Learning through play, as we all know—as parents all know—is the best way to go, isn’t it? Because you don’t make it so daunting for them, yeah?
Dave: Yeah. And they enjoy using games and animations to learn more about programming concepts.
Host: Parents enjoy it too, I’m sure.
Dave: Yeah.
Host: Steph, why is it so important to acquire digital skills from a young age, and also, I think more importantly, to appreciate and understand how digital technology works?
Steph: So actually, I believe that, you know, it’s important today for us to acquire digital skills because if you look around us, technology has now permeated every aspect of our lives. From how students are learning in schools all the way to how we can receive healthcare online with just a few clicks.
Without having these skills, it’s very easy to be left behind, especially as technology continues to advance at such a rapid pace. And, you know, like we always tell our students, appreciating digital technology always starts with understanding its core elements. From a string of code all the way to how software and hardware interact, even a basic knowledge of coding or experimenting with hardware devices like micro:bit can help students understand the complex systems behind our everyday digital tools, such as laptops and mobile phones, making technology both more accessible and exciting for them as well.
Host: I mean, topics like coding and programming and the activities you run all sound like a whole lot of fun, but aside from the fun, how do these topics actually help children, and even their parents, Dave?
Dave: There are numerous benefits for children picking up coding and programming, especially from a young age. For our students, they are not just learning to code, but really, we are teaching them how to problem-solve. Through programming, students learn to think logically and develop structured approaches to solve problems. For example, we teach an important concept called computational thinking, which is an essential problem-solving process involving decomposition. Decomposition is breaking down a complex task into smaller and more manageable steps. By practicing this way of thinking when completing tasks, our students learn to be confident. This problem-solving skill can be applied in other aspects of their life, such as academic subjects like math when they are solving an equation.
For parents, programming is actually quite a fun activity that they can participate in alongside their children. At the same time, they can pick up new skills themselves. When parents participate in this activity with their kids, they can naturally weave in important digital literacy concepts, such as teaching their kids how to practice safe online behavior on the internet.
Host: This is very important, isn’t it, to understand what it means to be online?
Dave: Yes, especially with so many scams and perpetrators online trying to steal your data. It’s important to teach the young, especially when they are just starting to use the internet, to have safe online behaviors.
Host: Yeah, sooner rather than later. And of course, there’s all this online etiquette that sometimes we forget, and the language being used. So digital literacy and understanding become very important. Dave, you talked about problem-solving and computational thinking helping children academically. How do you think it will help them in life?
Dave: In life, when they’re used to this sort of thinking, they can tackle other problems by breaking them down into simpler steps. A big part of it is logical thinking as well as design thinking. In design thinking, there are frameworks that involve empathizing with the person’s problem they are solving, prototyping different ideas, and incrementally iterating to find the best solution. This process is valuable in many other areas of life, beyond academic subjects.
Host: I feel that is very important, and sometimes we forget that, don’t we? Steph, The Young Maker is a Digital for Life partner. Share more about your contribution to this partnership.
Steph: Yes. At The Young Maker, our mission aligns very closely with Digital for Life’s vision, which is to empower communities with essential digital skills and help them thrive in an increasingly digital world. At The Young Maker, we’ve worked closely with organizations like the National Library Board and the People’s Association to drive community-led projects. These initiatives help extend the benefits of digital literacy to those who may not have easy access to technology. Together with Digital for Life, we’re looking forward to preparing everyone for a digital future—one that is inclusive, collaborative, and full of opportunities.
Host: You’re taking part in the current Digital for Life Festival, aren’t you? And you’re going to be at VivoCity next weekend. Dave, I want you to talk more about your booth, which is part of the “Raising Children in a Digital Age” showcase. What can we expect to see and do?
Dave: We’re really excited to partner with IMDA for the Digital for Life Festival next weekend, which will be held at VivoCity Atrium. We’ve designed a series of coding challenges where families can take part in hands-on exploration of the diverse platforms and modules we offer at The Young Maker. This ranges from engaging block-based programming tools that allow students to develop games and animations online, to more advanced syntax-based programming modules like Python and web development on our ed-tech platform, Codemaker.
We’ll also be showcasing multiple applications of the micro
, which is a small and compact hardware device. This will introduce children to software and hardware integration. Participants will have a chance to win prizes, including our mechanical keyboard, an exclusive Young Maker T-shirt, and trial class passes at our school. We really look forward to welcoming the public to our booth to learn more about how programming and robotics can enrich their child’s life.
Host: So lots of hands-on activities for children as well as their parents?
Dave: Yes, they can participate in activities together.
Host: That’s wonderful. It contributes to bonding as well, doesn’t it? For parents and children to learn together. Sometimes, I think we, as parents, are many steps behind young people who navigate this space so nimbly. Steph, what impact do you hope to make with your participation at the Digital for Life Festival and with your work going forward beyond the festival?
Steph: Through our participation in the Digital for Life Festival and our ongoing initiatives, we aim to make a lasting impact by empowering individuals, especially young ones, with the digital skills needed to succeed today. Our goal is simple: to break down the barriers that often make programming and coding seem intimidating. Like I mentioned, when we only started coding back in college, it was very daunting for us. We want to break it down for kids with hands-on and interactive activities, showing them that coding can be fun and practical.
We strongly believe that by nurturing a passion for technology early on, we can help shape a digitally inclusive society where everyone, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to thrive in an increasingly digital world.
Host: For parents with younger children attending the festival, exhibitors and partners like The Young Maker can help guide us in the digital world. Managing screen time is important, but before we do that, we need to learn how technology works so we can support our children while embarking on our own learning journey.
If you want more information about the Digital for Life Festival, you can visit digitalforlife.gov.sg/festival. Steph, Dave, thank you very much for making time.
Steph & Dave: Thank you so much.
