How important will coding skills be for our kids?

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It's difficult to fully grasp the impact that fields like coding, design and app development have had over the past decade.

From the success stories of services like Atlassian and Canva, the latter of which was recently valued at $A54.5 billion, to industry-leading banks and corporations highlighting coding as an essential skill, the global shift towards increased digital literacy is easy to see.

With Australian game developers and app development agencies like Canva now being recognised on a global scale, as well as the growing availability of opportunities for developers to work in the rapidly digitising finance sector with NAB, Westpac, and other big name banks, app development and computer programming are becoming highly sought after skills in our nation's modern economy.

This has, in turn, raised questions about the value of coding skills in early education, and whether current curriculums are adequately preparing new generations for a changing digital landscape.

Local developers and innovators want to see Aussie kids develop coding skills during their time in primary and secondary school, with many industry professionals asserting that coding can also be a fantastic resource for introducing younger students to applied science and mathematics.

But what are the real-world benefits of coding skills? What employment opportunities come with the development of these computer-based skill sets? And exactly how important will coding skills be for students of varied ages and backgrounds?

Read on to unearth just what possibilities accompany an education in coding.

It's important to note that studying coding doesn't necessarily equate to a career in programming. In fact, many studios like Melbourne's very own DreamWalk Apps take a multidisciplinary approach to app design that involves a wide range of professionals and a variety of different skill sets, all of which come under the umbrella of coding.

If children are interested in a cross-section between design and psychology, a career in UX design may be just the pathway for them. On the other end of the spectrum, students interested in developing systems may go on to work in cyber security or in the development of organisational systems or intranets.

As design and development fall into two contrasting categories, it's clear to see that software or app development is by no means purely for right-brained thinkers.

Young people with a background in coding can go on to work in virtually any industry, including computer science, security, architecture, digital marketing, finance, tech and design, and even in the arts and humanities.

Following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many countries across the globe began to assess their digital preparedness or their ability to be 'digitally competitive' on the international stage.

Countries at the forefront of digital development experienced significantly less social and economic instability throughout their COVID-19 outbreaks and were deemed thus to have a high level of 'future preparedness'.

Industries worldwide are practising digitalisation, transforming their organisational processes into efficient, automated ones, and flocking to digital channels like apps and social media to find new ways to interact with their customers or clients remotely.

With our high regional population, Australia has been in sore need of its own digital transformation well before the events of 2020, which is exactly why software developers and cyber experts have been some of the country's most in-demand professionals over the past few years.

When comparing Australia's own digital development trends against countries with higher digital competitiveness rankings, it becomes clear that there will likely be no shortage of job opportunities within the realm of coding and digital development for the foreseeable future.

Not only will coding students be spoilt for choice with regards to career pathways, but industry professionals assert that a career in coding or programming is likely going to be changeable and versatile due to the ever-evolving nature of the discipline itself.

Coding is still a relatively new discipline of the digital world, and with every passing year comes more opportunities for career growth but, more importantly, for learning.

The role of developers is to build systems and digital tools that improve the day-to-day operations of both organisations and the people who interact with them.

In order to build these systems, developers need to be constantly engaging with newer and newer technologies and emerging processes.

Not only do they need to learn about these new technologies as they emerge, but successful developers will also need to be able to apply their growing knowledge to projects at every turn.

In essence, coding and programming are more ongoing processes in themselves rather than areas of expertise.

Any student who loves to learn, who loves to challenge themselves, and test their critical and creative thinking abilities, is likely to see coding as a highly rewarding profession.

It's clear that there are countless benefits to encouraging Australian students to develop coding skills, ranging from their own future job satisfaction to the benefits for the national economy.

All that's left to do is develop established pathways for children throughout both our national primary and secondary education curriculums to ensure that all Australian students have access to the resources and information they'll need when engaging with this new and growing discipline.

Alongside this, parents can also enrol their children into extracurricular coding activities like coding camps and encourage their children to practice coding at home with the growing abundance of educational coding resources available online and on app stores.

Rest assured that the screen time that parents and teachers allocate towards the development of coding skills, will be guaranteed to be not just enjoyable or engaging, but also productive and a firm investment in their futures.