Felienne Hermans: How Can We Turn Kids from Consumers to Creators?

21st Century Entrepreneurship

Felienne Hermans is a professor of computer science education at VU Amsterdam, and founder of 500k users textual programming platform Hedy. We spoke about her mission to transform children from passive digital consumers into active creators. Felienne shares her journey from being an unsatisfied professor to founding Hedy, an innovative platform designed to make programming accessible to kids. She highlights the gap in existing educational tools for children aged 12 and up, explaining how they are either too childish or too complex.

In our conversation, Felienne reveals how Hedy bridges this gap by combining lessons from natural language learning with programming, creating an environment where practice and context are key. "We need to have more practice, more deliberate practice," she explains, drawing parallels between learning programming and learning a new language.

We also discussed the impact of AI on education, where Felienne argues that understanding the digital world as something "created by people" is now more crucial than ever. Despite the rise of AI, she emphasizes the importance of maintaining creativity and the value of deep thinking, warning against the "laziness" that automation can encourage.

Some key takeaways from our discussion include:

• The need for age-appropriate programming tools: Felienne identified a gap in educational resources that either infantilized or overwhelmed young learners, prompting her to develop Hedy.
• Importance of practice in learning: Drawing from language acquisition techniques, Felienne implemented repetitive practice in Hedy to help all children—not just the self-driven ones—grasp programming concepts.
• The role of AI in education: Felienne stresses that AI should not replace the foundational understanding and creativity that come from learning to code.

If you're a parent or educator looking to inspire the next generation of digital creators, this episode offers invaluable insights and practical advice on how to get started.