Laurel couple develops software to teach children

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by Ayesha Ahmad
Staff Writer

A new software program that teaches young children the basics of computer programming was developed to help its creators' own daughter ­ and now may be used to help schoolchildren across the county.

KidBasic is the result of five years of work by Temi and Ameen Olu-Ajayi, formerly of Greenbelt, who came to Laurel in 2002. They moved their developing business, Little Programmer Software, LLC, to Player Drive in Laurel less than a year ago.

"My husband and I wanted to create a programming language for our daughter to be able to create something of her own," Temi Olu-Ajayi said. "But the languages out there ... were just way too complicated for a child."

The software is now in the process of being approved by Prince George's County Public Schools for use with pupils in third grade and above. The official involved in the approval process was unavailable for comment.

KidBasic was presented at a technology fair held by the school system on Saturday, at which 700 teachers, vendors and presenters gathered to teach and learn about software that can help children learn.

"It's basically to teach teachers how to integrate technology into their classrooms," said Nancy Becker, information technology specialist for PGCPS' learning technology support group.

Temi Olu-Ajayi said their software had a positive reception at the fair, and many schools asked for the couple to come in to their labs and run demonstrations.

Though KidBasic is intended for children at least 8 years old, Temi Olu-Ajayi said her 4-year-old daughter Victoria is already able to use it for alphabet recognition.

The software package, which includes a guidebook and compact disc, aims to teach basic universal concepts of computer programming, using simple verbs like "start," "stop," "show" and "say," and teach the logic behind algorithms.

"They can write their own computer programs and actually have other people use them," she added.

Ameen Olu-Ajayi, a programmer who works full-time for the company, said children can create programs with animation, sounds and music, and programs that "think" in if-then equations.

They could even write "some sort of software protection program, where a user has to enter a password into the program and the computer will check to see if the password is correct," he said.

Temi Olu-Ajayi, a network administrator in the federal government, said the couple hopes to develop further versions of KidBasic for high school and college students wanting to enter programming fields.

Little Programmer will be offering free training classes to area children, starting with a class at Laurel Library on Dec. 8 for which they will be sending fliers to area schools. Temi Olu-Ajayi said they hope for the software go beyond Prince George's County.

"We would like it to become international if possible," she said. "We do believe that every child needs... something more than just games. They need something that will challenge their minds in a way that they can understand."