Technology literacy is important to the economic and educational future of the next generation.Scientists and educators in the U.S. and China say it's important to introduce very young children to new technologies.They advise developing skills from computer programing to designing electronic circuits.They say that with the right approach, children learn not to be frightened of abstract thinking.Even before children learn to read and write, they can manipulate -- move and control -- images.Tablet computers with touch-sensitive screens are perfect for lining up simple commands.Mitchel Resnick is co-developer of a code-learning program called Scratch Jr. He says that is exactly what programming is all about."Each block tells the character what to do. You snap the blocks together, and you've made a computer program.Each block has a diferent behavior. This block make the cat go to the right. This one makes the cat jump.By snapping them together I make a computer program that makes it move and then jump.That's what coding is all about, putting together sequences of actions."7-year old Talia Levitt is having a good time.
