5 ms·

Script used by Indian startup WhiteHatJr to teach coding to 9 year old kids

37 points by ffpip 6y ago

senthil_rajasek 6y ago
@dang or @moderator Please edit the title from "Indian startup..." to "startup".
- ajsutrave 6y ago
  Why? Isn’t White Hat Jr based in India?
- nsajko 6y ago
  It's not even a startup any more? It was acquired by BYJU'S: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYJU%27S https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYJU%27S https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karan_Bajaj https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karan_Bajaj
- mam2 6y ago
  The indian context seem pretty relevant to the case, as many commenters said they experienced the same with startups... in India too.
GregNGM 6y ago
Particularly concerning is the section where the teacher is instructed to unconditionally reward the student, and then say that this reward is "exceptional" to the parents. I'm not a lawyer, but that sound like fraud. https://archive.org/details/demo-class_202011/page/25/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/demo-class_202011/page/25/mode/1...
- ajsutrave 6y ago
  I disagree. I think this is the sort of thing we do to encourage kids to do something difficult. If you interpret the comment more charitably it could be trying to say that all students are exceptional in the sense that every human is unique.
ffpip 6y ago
PDF - https://archive.org/download/demo-class_202011/DEMO%20CLASS.pdf https://archive.org/download/demo-class_202011/DEMO%20CLASS....
ffpip 6y ago
Indian Startup WhiteHat JR is the biggest edtech scam. They are fooling parents with promises of jobs at Google, their kid's app in the play store/app store. Their teachers do not know basic things like what is a cloud server (they said these run on actual clouds), difference between Java and Javascript. Related - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25176230 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25176230
- dang 6y ago
  It would be better to include these links in a comment in that thread, where they would clearly be on topic. The problem with making a separate submission out of it is that it's repetitive; we don't need two different threads about the same issue with the same startup at the same time. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=curiosity%20repetition%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so... https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=follow-up%20by%3Adang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...
- manishsharan 6y ago
  It's not just an Indian startup ... It's a fully owned subsidiary of a major Disney business partner. It's such a shame that Mickey mouse is now being used to scam gullible and desperate parents in the third world. Such a shame!
  - userbinator 6y ago
    It's such a shame that Mickey mouse is now being used to scam gullible and desperate parents in the third world. You may find this amusing: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Mickey_Mouse#Adjective https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Mickey_Mouse#Adjective
- userbinator 6y ago
  I don't think this phenomenon is specific to India, but a culture of strongly encouraging rote memorisation over actual thinking is definitely a factor. I worked in CS education many years ago (not in India) but the decline was already quite visible then, in the form of students who could recite obscure facts and copy-paste code together but were otherwise mostly computer-illiterate. These people then think they are successful and try to teach others, leading to a case of "the blind leading the blind".
bobbydreamer 6y ago
Why teach a 9yr old coding. 9yr old should learn skate, karate, swimming or music. Seriously coding. Byju is over valued.

37 points by ffpip 6y ago

senthil_rajasek 6y ago

@dang or @moderator Please edit the title from "Indian startup..." to "startup".

ajsutrave 6y ago
Why? Isn’t White Hat Jr based in India?
nsajko 6y ago
It's not even a startup any more? It was acquired by BYJU'S: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYJU%27S https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYJU%27S https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karan_Bajaj https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karan_Bajaj
mam2 6y ago
The indian context seem pretty relevant to the case, as many commenters said they experienced the same with startups... in India too.

GregNGM 6y ago

Particularly concerning is the section where the teacher is instructed to unconditionally reward the student, and then say that this reward is "exceptional" to the parents. I'm not a lawyer, but that sound like fraud. https://archive.org/details/demo-class_202011/page/25/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/demo-class_202011/page/25/mode/1...

ajsutrave 6y ago
I disagree. I think this is the sort of thing we do to encourage kids to do something difficult. If you interpret the comment more charitably it could be trying to say that all students are exceptional in the sense that every human is unique.

ffpip 6y ago

PDF - https://archive.org/download/demo-class_202011/DEMO%20CLASS.pdf https://archive.org/download/demo-class_202011/DEMO%20CLASS....

ffpip 6y ago

Indian Startup WhiteHat JR is the biggest edtech scam. They are fooling parents with promises of jobs at Google, their kid's app in the play store/app store. Their teachers do not know basic things like what is a cloud server (they said these run on actual clouds), difference between Java and Javascript. Related - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25176230 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25176230

dang 6y ago
It would be better to include these links in a comment in that thread, where they would clearly be on topic. The problem with making a separate submission out of it is that it's repetitive; we don't need two different threads about the same issue with the same startup at the same time. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=curiosity%20repetition%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so... https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=follow-up%20by%3Adang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...
manishsharan 6y ago
It's not just an Indian startup ... It's a fully owned subsidiary of a major Disney business partner. It's such a shame that Mickey mouse is now being used to scam gullible and desperate parents in the third world. Such a shame!
- userbinator 6y ago
  It's such a shame that Mickey mouse is now being used to scam gullible and desperate parents in the third world. You may find this amusing: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Mickey_Mouse#Adjective https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Mickey_Mouse#Adjective
userbinator 6y ago
I don't think this phenomenon is specific to India, but a culture of strongly encouraging rote memorisation over actual thinking is definitely a factor. I worked in CS education many years ago (not in India) but the decline was already quite visible then, in the form of students who could recite obscure facts and copy-paste code together but were otherwise mostly computer-illiterate. These people then think they are successful and try to teach others, leading to a case of "the blind leading the blind".

bobbydreamer 6y ago

Why teach a 9yr old coding. 9yr old should learn skate, karate, swimming or music. Seriously coding. Byju is over valued.