Children in Tech: Interview with Aarti Parikh

By Cameron Crane

Image credit: kidsorangetech.com

When we look ten years in to the future, there is only one thing that seems to be a certainty: the technological world, as we know it, will cease to exist. Today’s newest ideas will be a thing of the past, and many of us understand that our lives will be a constant relearning process, as we continue to adapt and adopt.

Yesterday we welcomed Aarti Parikh, Co-Founder of our digital partner KiteReaders, as she told us all about women in technology. Today, we are excited to have her back to discuss the future of tech, and the hands it will most likely fall in to.

What or who do you see as the tech developers of the future?

I think understanding technology and basic coding will be as essential as reading and writing. Kids that master that will have a definite advantage. I see the tech developer of the future as more of a polymath. Programming may be one of their many skills, which they leverage to solve business problems, scientific problems, create content and media to teach, or start social revolutions.

How have you passed your experiences on to your daughters? When did you decide to teach them to code?

It started with my children testing the book apps I was making. They would not only test the apps but recommend features they wanted me to add. The apps had interactivity, music, and coloring pages. I remember my daughter's suggestion to add stickers into the coloring pages of the app I had made. The creative aspect roused their interest and they wanted to learn.

I started my daughter when she entered fourth grade, introducing her to building a website and writing simple HTML and CSS. After a while she wanted to code something more interactive, at which point we worked together on some JavaScript and ruby modules in Khan Academy and Code Academy. We are also reading the book Learn to Program by Chris Pine.

The best part is the discussions I have with them and the fun questions that they ask. We talk a lot about what code means, what a computer language is and how it relates to Math and English. Their questions usually drive the conversations. Why is code written in English? How do you build animations? How can I check if my math homework is correct? Why doesn't Siri understand Grandma?

Do you recommend getting children involved with coding early?

I am not an education expert, but I think it would be interesting for kids to code starting in 4th or 5th grade and in teams. However, I do believe that it has to be teacher assisted for they do need a guide in case they get stuck. Coding is hard. You want to build on their confidence so that they feel challenged but not frustrated or overwhelmed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About Aarti Parikh

Aarti took to computers while she was in high-school. Since then, she has enjoyed programming in various languages. As a software engineer, Aarti has contributed to several products in the last ten years  that have had a positive impact in the world. At KiteReaders, she not only designs the products and writes the code behind them, but she also works with literature, which she has loved since her childhood. Her prior experiences includes the design and development of the advertising platform at Yahoo!, developing enterprise pharmacy software at Tech-Rx (now McKesson Provider Technologies), and more.

Women in Tech: Interview with Aarti Parikh of KiteReaders

By Cameron Crane

Over the past few years, Little Pickle Press has been working hard to translate our award-winning picture books into digital format, both as book apps and enhanced eBooks. In doing so, we have been fortunate to develop many meaningful relationships, including that with one of our digital partners, KiteReaders.

Today, we welcome Aarti Parikh, Co-Founder of KiteReaders, to tell us about her experience as a woman in the tech industry.

When did you first decide to get involved in the tech development industry?

I was fortunate that the school my parents had sent me to was part of a Computer Literacy program, and I wrote my first program in Basic on the BBC Microcomputer. I enjoyed Math and English at school, however writing programs was a lot more fun and allowed more freedom to be creative, especially since most courses taught in our school tended to be rigidly structured. Also, with programming there is sort of a level playing field; the student can actually code something more interesting or creative than the teacher, and there are many ways to arrive at the same solution. I decided to stick with it and pursued an engineering degree in college. The tech industry was booming in the late 90s, and I was able to find work quite easily after I graduated.

What has your experience as a female tech developer been? Has this experience changed over the last decade?

One of the most challenging things for me as a developer has been to keep up with emerging technologies; I must improve my coding skills while delivering products to meet deadlines. Learning often happens in informal settings in the team. This is the hard part. It is easy to feel excluded and out of the loop, and it may not be intentional. I learned that speaking up about my ideas was not enough, and many times I had to demonstrate with a proof of concept. That in turn meant I had to push myself harder, which comes with a price of time. In hindsight, I see it as a positive, as it let me evolve and be more self-sufficient as a developer.

Software development usually occurs in cycles, and sometimes the code completion deadlines require long hours. It disrupts the home life, and with a family you need a supportive and understanding partner. However, most developers do have the options of flexible working hours, and that has made things a little bit easier for me during my career.

Social media has had a huge impact among tech developers over the last decade. With a lot of influencers like framework developers online, it has become easy to find information and we have less dependence on the immediate team or hierarchy within organizations. New ideas may flow from a Tweet or a trending framework on GitHub or an article or a video on YouTube. However, this is a tricky area to navigate, since personal life and work seems to get blended in a very public setting.

Do you have any advice for women with the desire to enter the industry?

Education in this field does not mean getting a degree; you have to be a practitioner. A college degree, even in Computer Science, does not guarantee a job as a developer. You have to at least be coding if not staying current with the latest practices. My advice is to network with others in the industry; find mentors. A lot of growth happens with sharing ideas and success or failure stories. Be a self-starter: build something, learn something. Nowadays there are a lot of educational programs encouraging women, such as HackBright Academy or StarterLeague. If you are looking to change a career, that might be a place to start.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Most recently, my company KiteReaders was accepted in the Accelerator Program at 500 Startups. It is an exciting time for us to be part of an international, diverse, and talented group of people, some of whom have travelled from Africa, Vietnam, and Jordan. It is amazing to see the ideas and software talents of all these countries represented in Silicon Valley right alongside the brightest and best talents. I am not aware of any other industry that enables this chance. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About Aarti Parikh

Aarti took to computers while she was in high school. Since then, she has enjoyed programming in various languages. As a software engineer, Aarti has contributed to several products in the last ten years  that have had a positive impact in the world. At KiteReaders, she not only designs the products and writes the code behind them, but she also works with literature, which she has loved since her childhood. Her prior experiences includes the design and development of the advertising platform at Yahoo!, developing enterprise pharmacy software at Tech-Rx (now McKesson Provider Technologies), and more.

Women Who Are Makers

By Kelly Wickham

Last month, PBS aired a documentary called Makers about the women who make America. The project uses the digital medium to showcase thousands of American women who, through the use of their captivating stories, have become the leaders they are today. It was developed through the collaborative efforts of AOL and PBS and collects the stories of women, by women; stories that we tell ourselves and our daughters so that powerful voices can be heard by future generations.

It’s a simple idea, really, but one far more potent than I first realized. I managed to catch an episode when I was flipping channels and caught the stories being told by Marlo Thomas. Not only can I appreciate Ms. Thomas for being “That Girl” on reruns when I was a tween girl, but my parents bought me the book and accompanying album, “Free to Be You and Me,” when I was about 10 years old. The album came out when I was a toddler, but my parents bought it saved it for the three girls in my family so that we would listen and learn how to be strong women someday.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Marlo Thomas would be in the Makers documentary video. In fact, I was feeling rather old to admit that I played the album on my record player when I was a child. We had limited mediums through which to hear about gender stereotypes, individuality, and tolerance when I was a child. So, naturally, I saved the book and album for my own daughter to enjoy. Little did I realize that the Internet would be born and that we would have, at our fingertips, an amazing array of powerful messages for girls.

Unfortunately, I also didn’t realize that the amplification of messages toward girls would be as violent and vitriolic as we have seen in the last few years, with social media playing a major role in how those messages come across. That’s why documentaries like Makers are important. Stories of powerful women like Alice Walker and Madeleine Albright and Judy Blume are all over the site. If you visit Makers they have wisely categorized videos of women in all kinds of jobs. The arts and politics and science/tech are a few you’ll find. I’m partial to the category of education and business as well, but a good place to start would be with the Groundbreakers, women who have blasted through the glass ceiling that many women found themselves up against after being given the message that they can do anything.

If you have a girl in your life who could benefit from hearing stories from the women who are making our world a better place, and from women who are stretching themselves to ensure that girls are equal, please visit Makers and watch the videos with her. It may be your daughter or your sister or even, for those men out there, your wife. They’re little snippets of power and social change that started with just one woman; to hear them tell the stories themselves makes the experience even more powerful. 

Featured Customer of the Month: Tree House Books

By Cameron Crane

As you may already know, this week we have been celebrating Children’s Book Week. Children's Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country, first established in 1919. Its purpose is to celebrate books and to foster a lifelong love of reading in children, which is something all of us at Little Pickle Press strive to do every day. So, as you can imagine, it is always a pleasure for us when we come across a customer that seeks to do the same.

Tree House Books is one such customer, which is why we decided to highlight them today. Founded in 2004, Tree House Books is a non-profit organization with a mission to: “grow and sustain a community of readers, writers, and thinkers in North Central Philadelphia.” It serves primarily as an after-school meeting spot, full of artwork and books, and designed to “encourage a lifelong relationship with education, reading, and each other.” Children who enter Tree House are not only inspired to build a relationship with books, but are also encouraged to build a relationship with one another, as the company emphasizes and embodies the importance of being a member of a community—a sentiment that Little Pickle Press also shares strongly.

Although Tree House Books hosts and sells an amazing collection of children’s literature, the company’s goal is to be more than “a place to buy books”, and to instead become “a place where life with books is always happening.” Writing workshops, open mic venues, leadership programs, homework support centers, hangout spots, and a theater help to make this vision a reality. You can find out more about Tree House’s programs here.

If you are in the North Central Philadelphia area, we highly recommend stopping into Tree House and browsing its selection of literature, specializing in children’s books, African American literature, poetry, and biographies. You can also sign up to volunteer for the program, and become part of a team seeking to make a positive impact in the lives on children by nurturing social, academic, and creative development.

If you are not in the area, but are still interested in supporting Tree House’s mission, consider donating books to the organization. Donations are accepted on a weekly basis.

Thank you Tree House Books, for fostering a lifelong love of books and community in North Central Philadelphia! We are honored to be on your shelves.