TED：教孩子电脑知识的一种好方法

TED英语演讲课

给心灵放个假吧

今天的TED演讲给大家带来教孩子学习电脑知识的一种好方法。

Code is the next universal language.

代码将会成为下一种通用语言。

In the seventies,

在七十年代，

it was punk music that drove the whole generation.

是朋克音乐推动了整个一代人。

In the eighties,

在八十年代，

it was probably money.

可能是钱。

But for my generation of people,

但对于我这一代人来说，

software is the interface to our imagination and our world.

软件是我们想象力和世界的接口。

And that means that we need a radically,

这意味着我们需要

radically more diverse set of people to build those products,

完全多样化的人群来创造这些产品，

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

这些人不把电脑看成是机械的，孤独的，无聊的，神奇的，

to see them as things that they can tinker and turn around and twist,

而把它们看作是他们可以去修补和变革的东西，

and so forth.

诸如此类。

My personal journey into the world of programming and technology started at the tender age of 14.

我从快14岁时就开始接触编程和技术。

I had this mad teenage crush>那时，我疯狂地迷恋上了一个年长的男人，

and the older man in question just happened to be the then Vice President of the United States, Mr.

他恰好是当时美国的副总统

Al Gore.

阿尔·戈尔。

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

我做了每个十几岁女孩都想做的事。

I wanted to somehow express all of this love,

我想以某种方式来表达我对他的爱慕，

so I built him a website,

所以我给他建了个网站，

it's over here.

就是这个。

And in 2001,

2001年，

there was no Tumblr,

那时还没有汤博乐，

there was no Facebook,

没有脸书，

there was no Pinterest.

也没有Pinterest。

So I needed to learn to code in order to express all of this longing and loving.

所以我需要学会用代码来表达我所有的渴望和爱。

And that is how programming started for me.

我就是这样开始编程的。

It started as a means of self-expression.

那时，编程对我而言是一种自我表达的方式。

Just like when I was smaller,

就像我小时候，

I would use crayons and legos.

会用蜡笔和乐高来表达自己。

And when I was older,

当长大点的时候，

I would use guitar lessons and theater plays.

我会用吉他课和戏剧表达自己。

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

但那时，还有其他令人兴奋的事，

like poetry and knitting socks and conjugating French irregular verbs and coming up with make-believe worlds and Bertrand Russell and his philosophy.

例如诗歌和针织短袜，列举法语不规则动词的词形变化，构想虚构的世界，以及伯特兰·罗素和他的哲学。

And I started to be>于是我也开始觉得电脑无聊、孤独且充满技术性。

Here's what I think today.

但我今天是这么想的。

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

小女孩们不知道她们不应该喜欢电脑。

Little girls are amazing.

这些小女孩们太棒了。

They are really,

她们真的，

really good at concentrating>非常擅长专注，一丝不苟，她们会问一些非常棒的问题，比如“什么？”

and 'Why?'

还有“为什么”

and 'How?'

还有“怎么做”

and 'What if?'

还有“如果？”

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

她们不知道自己不应该喜欢电脑。

It's the parents who do.

而她们的父母知道。

It's us parents who feel like computer science is this esoteric,

是我们这些父母觉得计算机科学如此深奥，

weird science discipline that>且不可思议，认为只有那些神秘制造者们才能了解学习。

That it's almost as far removed from everyday life as, say, nuclear physics.

认为它与日常生活的距离几乎和核物理一样遥远。

And they are partly right about that.

他们在一定程度上是对的。

There's a lot of syntax and controls and data structures and algorithms and practices,

编程中的确有很多句法、控件、数据结构、算法和实践运用，

protocols and paradigms in programming.

以及设计中的一些协议和范例。

And we as a community,

我们这代人作为一个群体，

we've made computers smaller and smaller.

我们让电脑变得越来越小。

We've built layers and layers of abstraction on top of each other between the man and the machine to the point that we no longer have any idea how computers work or how to talk to them.

我们在人和机器之间建立了层次分明的抽象概念，以至于我们已经不知道计算机是如何工作的，也不知道如何与它们对话了。

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

我们教导我们的孩子人体是如何工作的，

we teach them how the combustion engine functions and we even tell them that if you want to really be an astronaut you can become>教导他们内燃机是如何运行的，我们甚至会告诉他们，如果他们想要成为一名宇航员，他们是可以办到的。

But when the kid comes to us and asks, 'So,

但当孩子来问我们，

what is a bubble sort algorithm?'

“那什么是冒泡分类算法？“

Or, 'How does the computer know what happens when I press 'play,' how does it know which video to show?'

或者，“当我按播放键时，电脑是怎么知道要放哪个视频？”

Or, 'Linda, is Internet a place?'

或者，“琳达，互联网是个地方吗？”

We adults, we grow oddly silent.

这时我们成年人就会异常沉默。

'It's magic,'

“这是魔法”

some of us say.

有些人会这样说。

'It's too complicated,'

“这太复杂了，”

the others say.

还有些人这样说。

Well, it's neither.

但事实上两者都不是。

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

计算机既不是魔法，也并不复杂。

It all just happened really, really, really fast.

只是一切都发生得非常快。

Computer scientists built these amazing, beautiful machines,

计算机科学家们创造了这些令人惊叹的，迷人的机器，

but they made them very,

但这些机器，

very foreign to us,

对我们来说却非常陌生，

and also the language we speak to the computers so that we don't know how to speak to the computers anymore without our fancy user interfaces.

还有那些我们和计算机交流的语言也非常陌生，这样我们就不知道如何在没有高级用户界面的情况下与计算机对话了。

And that's why no>这就是为什么没人意识到，当我列举法语不规则动词词形变化时，

I was actually practicing my pattern recognition skills.

我实际上是在练习我的模式识别技能。

And when I was excited about knitting,

当我很兴奋地编织时，

I actually was following a sequence of symbolic commands that included loops inside of them.

实际上，我遵循的是一系列符号命令，其中包括循环。

And that Bertrand Russell's lifelong quest to find an exact language between English and mathematics found its home inside of a computer.

伯特兰·罗素毕生寻求在英语和数学之间找到一种确切的语言，而这通过计算机也得以实现。

I was a programmer,

我是个程序员，

but no>但没人知道。

The kids of today, they tap,

今天的孩子们，

swipe and pinch their way through the world.

他们努力在这个世界上摸索着。

But unless we give them tools to build with computers,

如果我们无法给他们提供用电脑制造的工具，

we are raising>我们只是在培养计算机的消费者，而非创造者。

This whole quest led me to this little girl.

整个任务引导我找到了这个小女孩。

Her name is Ruby,

她叫鲁比

she is six years old.

她六岁了。

She is completely fearless,

她完全无所畏惧，

imaginative and a little bit bossy.

充满想像力，甚至有点儿专横。

And every time I would run into a problem in trying to teach myself programming like,

每次我试图教自己编程时都会遇到一些问题，

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

例如“什么是以目标群体为导向的设计？或什么设计只是整合了一些无用信息？”

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

我试着想象一个六岁的小女孩会怎么解释这个问题。

And I wrote a book about her and I illustrated it and the things Ruby taught me go like this.

我写了一本关于她的书，并举例说明了鲁比是怎样解释这个问题的。

Ruby taught me that you're not supposed to be afraid of the bugs under your bed.

鲁比告诉我，你不用害怕床下的虫子。

And even the biggest of the problems are a group of tiny problems stuck together.

即使是最大的问题也是很多小问题聚集在一起。

And Ruby also introduced me to her friends,

鲁比还把我介绍给了她的朋友

the colorful side of the Internet culture.

向我展示了网络文化丰富多彩的一面。

She has friends like the Snow Leopard,

她有像雪豹系统这样的朋友，

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

她很漂亮，但不想和其他孩子一起玩。

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

她也有像绿色机器人这样的朋友，他们很友好，但也很混乱。

And she has friends like Linux the penguin who's really ruthlessly efficient,

她还有像Linux企鹅这样的朋友，他真的很有效率，

but somewhat hard to understand.

但有点难以理解。

And idealistic foxes,

还有理想主义的狐狸，

and so>诸如此类。

In Ruby's world,

在鲁比的世界里

you learn technology through play.

你通过游戏学习技术。

And, for instance,

例如，

computers are really good at repeating stuff,

电脑很擅长重复，

so the way Ruby would teach loops goes like this.

所以鲁比像这样教循环。

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

这是鲁比最喜欢的舞蹈动作，“拍手，跺脚，跺脚，拍手，

clap and jump.'

然后拍手，跳跃。”

And you learn counter loops by repeating that four times.

你可以通过重复四次这个动作来学习逆循环。

And you learn while loops by repeating that sequence while I'm standing>当我一条腿站立的时候，你通过重复这个序列来学习当型循环。

And you learn until loops by repeating that sequence until mom gets really mad.

要学习直到型循环，你可以重复这个序列直到妈妈发狂。

(Laughter) And most of all,

(众笑)最重要的是，

you learn that there are no ready answers.

你知道没有现成的答案。

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

当用鲁比的方试授课时，

I needed to really ask the kids how they see the world and what kind of questions they have and I would organize play testing sessions.

我需要问孩子们他们是如何看待这种方式的，他们有什么样的问题，我也会组织游戏测试。

I would start by showing the kids these four pictures.

我先给孩子们看这四张照片。

I would show them a picture of a car,

我会给他们看一张车的照片，

a grocery store,

一家杂货店，

a dog and a toilet.

一只狗和一个马桶。

And I would ask,

我会问，

'Which>“你认为哪一个是电脑？”

And the kids would be very conservative and go,

孩子们会非常保守地回答道，

'None of these is a computer.

“这些都不是电脑。

I know what a computer is: it's that glowing box in front of which mom or dad spends way too much time.'

我知道电脑是什么：它是个发光的盒子，爸爸妈妈会在那前面花好多时间。“

But then we would talk and we would discover that actually,

但之后，我们通过聊天发现，

a car is a computer,

一辆车就是一台电脑，

it has a navigation system inside of it.

里面有一个导航系统。

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

狗-狗可能不是电脑，

but it has a collar and the collar might have a computer inside of it.

但是它有一个项圈，项圈里面可能有一台电脑。

And grocery stores,

还有杂货店，

they have so many different kinds of computers,

他们有很多不同类型的电脑，

like the cashier system and the burglar alarms.

比如收银台和防盗警报器。

And kids, you know what?

孩子们你们知道吗？

In Japan, toilets are computers and there's even hackers who hack them.

在日本，厕所也是电脑，甚至还有黑客攻击它们。

(Laughter)

(众笑)

And we go further and I give them these little stickers with an>接下来，我们逐渐深入。我给他们这些小贴纸，上面有一个开/关按钮。

And I tell the kids,

我告诉孩子们

'Today you have this magic ability to make anything in this room into a computer.'

“今天，你们有一个神奇的能力，可以把这间屋子里的任何东西做成一台电脑。”

And again, the kids go,

这时孩子们再次说到，

'Sounds really hard,

“听起来很难，

I don't know the right answer for this.'

我不知道该怎么做。“

But I tell them, 'Don't worry,

但我告诉他们，“别担心，

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

你们的父母也不知道正确的答案。

They've just started to hear about this thing called The Internet of Things.

他们刚刚开始听说这个叫做物联网的东西。

But you kids,

但你们这些孩子

you are going to be the>你们才是真正生活在一个一切都是电脑的世界里。”

And then I had this little girl who came to me and took a bicycle lamp and she said,

然后有个小女孩拿着自行车灯来找我，她说，

'This bicycle lamp,

“这个自行车灯，

if it were a computer,

如果它是电脑的话，

it would change colors.'

它会改变颜色。“

And I said,

我说，

'That's a really good idea,

“这真是个好主意

what else could it do?'

它还能做什么？“

And she thinks and she thinks,

她想了想，

and she goes,

说道，

'If this bicycle lamp were a computer,

“如果这盏自行车灯是一台电脑，

we could go>我们可以和我父亲骑自行车去旅行，我们会睡在帐篷里，这盏自行车灯可以成为电影放映机。”

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

那就是我等待的时刻，

the moment when the kid realizes that the world is definitely not ready yet,

此时孩子真正意识到世界还没有发展完善，

that a really awesome way of making the world more ready is by building technology and that each>让世界变得更好的一种非常棒的方法就是发展技术，而我们每个人都可以成为这一变革的一部分。

Final story, we also built a computer.

最后，我们还创造了一台电脑。

And we got to know the bossy CPU and the helpful RAM and ROM that help it remember things.

我们知道了爱发号施令的CPU和有帮助的RAM和ROM，就是它们使计算机有记忆的。

And after we've assembled our computer together,

我们组装好电脑后，

we also design an application for it.

我们还为它设计了一个应用程序。

And my favorite story is this little boy,

我最喜欢的故事是关于一个小男孩，

he's six years old and his favorite thing in the world is to be an astronaut.

他六岁了，他最想做的就是当一名宇航员。

And the boy,

这个男孩

he has these huge headphones>他戴着超大的耳机，完全沉浸在他的纸制小电脑里，因为你知道吗，

he's built his own intergalactic planetary navigation application.

他建立了自己的星际行星导航应用。

And his father,

小男孩儿的父亲

the lone astronaut in the Martian orbit,

是火星轨道上唯一的宇航员，

is>他在房间的另一边。而男孩的任务是把父亲安全地带回地球。

And these kids are going to have a profoundly different view of the world and the way we build it with technology.

这些孩子们将对这个世界有一个全新的截然不同的看法，而这个新视角是我们用技术创造的。

Finally, the more approachable,

最后，计算机越是平易近人，

the more inclusive,

其包容性越强，

and the more diverse we make the world of technology,

科技世界越多样化，

the more colorful and better the world will look like.

世界就会变得越丰富多彩，越美好。

So, imagine with me,

所以，和我一起想象，

for a moment,

想象一下，

a world where the stories we tell about how things get made don't>在这个关于如何创造事物的故事世界里，不仅包括那些二十多岁的硅谷少年，

but also Kenyan schoolgirls and Norwegian librarians.

还有肯尼亚的女学生们和挪威图书管理员。

Imagine a world where the little Ada Lovelaces of tomorrow,

想象一个小阿达·洛夫莱斯的未来世界，

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

他们生活在一个1和0的永恒现实中，

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

他们长大后会对技术非常乐观和勇敢。

They embrace the powers and the opportunities and the limitations of the world.

他们热衷于接受世界的力量、机遇和局限。

A world of technology that is wonderful,

科技世界是美好的，

whimsical and a tiny bit weird.

有些异想天开甚至不可思议。

When I was a girl,

当我还是个小女孩的时候，

I wanted to be a storyteller.

我想成为一个讲故事的人。

I loved make-believe worlds and my favorite thing to do was to wake up in the mornings in Moominvalley.

我喜欢虚构的世界，我最想做的事就是早晨在姆明山谷醒来。

In the afternoons,

下午，

I would roam around the Tatooines.

在塔图因周围漫步。

And in the evenings,

晚上，

I would go to sleep in Narnia.

在纳尼亚入睡。

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

于是编程对我来说就是个完美的职业。

I still create worlds.

我仍然在创造世界。

Instead of stories,

但不是用故事，

I do them with code.

而是用代码来创造。

Programming gives me this amazing power to build my whole little universe with its own rules and paradigms and practices.

编程赋予了我一个神奇的力量，那就是用它的规则、范例和实践来构建我的整个小宇宙。

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

用纯粹的逻辑力量，将不可能变成可能。

Thank you.

谢谢。

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