Five children were completely absorbed as their teacher described how to bring an object on the computer screen "alive" – for example, to make a dog they had created "move".

"I am inspired to create an online game. But as for now, I am still learning the coding system," said nine-year-old William Tampubolon, a student in a "Coding Indonesia" class in South Jakarta.

The class is an unusual one in Indonesia, where most computer education focuses on the use of software programmes such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. But in this class, students learn how to create online games.

"We do not teach them to play; we teach them to create," Wahyudi, a programmer who teaches the class, told Khabar Southeast Asia. So far, a total of 17 students, age six to 40, are enrolled in three weekly classes.

Wahyudi and a high school chum, Kurie Suditmo, got the idea to start the class in 2010, when he returned from working and studying abroad.

"The idea for the coding course came from my children, who are addicted to their gadgets," Kurie, a former journalist who now works in public relations, told Khabar.

"When Joko Widodo was governor of Solo, Central Java, he built children's centres and libraries for kids to play and learn. Unfortunately, not many of them are using these facilities. They'd rather go to the internet cafe and play instead of reading a book; they can play for three hours non-stop," Kurie said.

"We want Indonesian children to not only be consumers for online games but also producers," Wahyudi added.

Avid to learn

In one lesson, students are taught to create a table tennis game. The class introduces key components of game development, including scoring, aiming a ball left and right, and adjusting the speed of the ball. "They can also create various levels of difficulty," Wahyudi said.

The children are responding with enthusiasm and creativity, even though much of the instruction is in English.

"One game is called 'Smash the Beast.' I do not have difficulty making this game because I like doing it. I love to learn animation, and with this class, I have learned many new things. Someday, I want to make animated movies," nine year-old Alisa Dhani told Khabar enthusiastically.

"I like anime. I usually start manually with my drawing paper," said Alisa, who is also a fan of Minecraft, an open-ended video game in which users build buildings and communities.

Skills for life

The course opened in June 2013. At present, Wahyudi and Kurie are teaching adults on Wednesdays and kids on Saturdays. As soon as they can recruit more teachers, they plan to offer the class at Jakarta schools.

Children aged 8-15 are ready to learn the basic logic needed to create online games, she said. After age 15, their creativity will take off and they will be able to work with less guidance.

The logic, math and decision-making skills learned in computer programming will be useful in any future profession, she added.

"I'm very glad to hear of the informal education in information technology offered by Kurie and her team, where kids can create their own online games," Ibnu Hamad, a spokesman at the Ministry of Education and Culture, told Khabar Southeast Asia.

Indonesia needs more teachers like Kurie and Wahyudi to help drive innovation in education, he said. Education in Indonesian is less advanced than it is in Singapore and Malaysia, the University of Indonesia communications professor acknowledged.

"We must recognise that there are schools in Indonesia that are progressing and there are schools that are still evolving. We are pushing to expand access to education … and to improve quality," Hamad told Khabar.

He added that while the current school curriculum does not offer computer literacy and information technology as a subject in itself, it is being incorporated into other subject matter, "so that each child can practice in their respective classes".