From Code to Cognition: Young Tech Minds Build Low-Cost Learning Devices Tackling Cognitive Learning Challenges

Facing hardships in understanding the complex programming language during his childhood, 18-year-old Nikhith Gowda S is working towards developing a handheld coding trainer designed to teach kids the basics of coding.

Hailing from Kengeri, a western suburb of Bengaluru, Gowda is currently pursuing a B.Tech. Son of a plumber, Gowda, while speaking with The Statesman, said that coming from a rural background with humble origins, he struggled as a kid to understand the complex world of Programming. “I always thought of making coding easy for children to understand.”

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One of the top ten finalists of the Innovate2Educate challenge, part of the upcoming WAVES (World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit), being organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Gowda has developed a gadget called CodeCraft Junior.

Designed for the age group 6–12 years, the gadget will teach the basics of coding through interactive games, puzzles, and challenges. It features a block-based coding interface, works offline, and is built to be affordable, durable, and eco-friendly.

“Many children struggle to learn coding because existing tools are too complex, expensive, or require internet access. This creates a barrier for kids, especially in underserved communities, to develop essential 21st-century skills. CodeCraft Junior solves this by making coding fun, interactive, and accessible for all children,” said the young lad.

The users will learn coding basics like sequencing, loops, conditionals, and problem-solving. It not only aims to improve cognitive skills, including memory, logic, and critical thinking, but also increases engagement and confidence in learning through gamification. It can be dubbed as preparing the children for future STEM careers by building foundational coding skills,” said the creator of the device.

Featuring in the top ten finalists is another group of four friends pursuing B.Tech from VIT Bhopal who are working on developing a handheld gadget that uses AI to help kids aged 6 to 8 learn better. Dubbing themselves as Protominds, the team’s outing, EduSpark, is being designed for the children who struggle with basic cognitive skills, including math, memory, and critical thinking, due to ineffective, one-size-fits-all traditional learning methods.

“Unlike regular teaching methods, EduSpark, which works in offline mode, adjusts to how fast each child learns, giving quick feedback and harder tasks as they improve. It makes learning fun with games that teach basic math, problem-solving, memory, and logical thinking. Its simple design, various games, and easy-to-use controls keep young students interested and make learning fun,” said the 20-year-old team leader, Lucky Kumar.

The team includes Lucky Kumar, Nitin Kumar Singh, Muhammad Sajjad, Sheen Khan, and Anuradha Kumari. Speaking to the outlet about what motivated them to come up with this device, Lucky said that due to traditional teaching methods, the children often feel lack of engagement, and in the absence of personalised learning, the fixed curricula fails to adapt to a child’s strengths and weaknesses.

“Further, many children lack access to high-quality, affordable learning devices and develop an anxiety for Math with the fear of failure looming large. Conventional teaching often leads to frustration rather than confidence-building. EduSpark addresses these challenges by adapting to individual learning needs, providing instant feedback, and making education engaging and stress-free,” he said.

Speaking about the cost of developing the device, Lucky said that currently the prototype was developed at a cost of around ₹1,000 to 1,100, using basic but effective components.

“Since the Innovate2Educate challenge capped the budget around ₹1,000, it was a major challenge to look for those components which are cheap as well as effective. If we increase the budget, more advancements in this device will be possible,” he added.