Learning new things can be child’s play

23 January 2020

By Lisa Potter, Communications Specialist, FirstPort

As part of FirstPort’s first ever ‘Learning Week’ (20-24 January 2020), I attended a Coding Playground session at our New Milton Office.

What’s a coding playground? I hear you cry. It’s a concept that was initially developed as part of FirstPort’s Digital Eagles programme. It’s a workshop that our Digital Eagles team offer at developments across the country, teaching our younger residents (aged 6-12 years old) all about computer coding, allowing them to play with the basic language of code, interact with characters and stretch their imagination.

This learning session, put on for colleagues as part of Learning Week, was a chance to experience first-hand what our younger residents are learning from us…and, I won’t lie, part of me did just want to be ‘down with the kids’!

Learning new things can be scary. The fear of the unknown is real. The Coding Playground was completely out of my comfort zone, but I went along, laptop in hand, ready to learn.

And what did I learn?…

Firstly, coding is complicated! There’s a reason we aim coding playgrounds at our younger residents. When you boil it down, coding is very logical, and perhaps as adults we have a tendency to overthink it. Plus, kids absorb this kind of thing like sponges.

Secondly, despite the complexity, I discovered that if you’re willing to learn and have support to do so, you can – and I did! I completed a series of codes in the workshop that I then saw brought to life on screen. Very satisfying and rewarding.

Learning Week at FirstPort

For me, learning – whether it be in a coding playground session, at my desk, or at home – is really just about taking ownership, seeing things through, speaking up when I don’t understand and working together with the people around me to find solutions.

I know that if I try new things, and sometimes fail, it’s not the end of the world, and FirstPort has my back. They support me to learn, be innovative and think outside the box. This is something I really value from an employer.

A big part of Learning Week at FirstPort is about encouraging colleagues to embrace new processes and platforms – even when it feels uncomfortable. I certainly did that with my coding experience, and I’m glad I did.

Learning – whether it be in a coding playground session, at my desk, or at home – is really just about taking ownership, seeing things through, speaking up when I don’t understand and working together with the people around me to find solutions.

Lisa Potter