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Should kids learn to code?

theguardian.com

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Re: Should kids learn to code?

#21

Post by MollyR »

davidgerard wrote: post #11

I'll just post my Scratch blog post again: http://reddragdiva.tumblr.com/post/127964136013/it-turns-out... There have been many simple languages for kids, but Scratch appears to be the one that works. Speaking to my daughter's teacher, it's not just the academically-bright kids getting into Scratch - the academically average and academically behind ones do too. It appears to satisfy requirement #1: get the kid intere…

I've noticed lot of web developers I've worked with view hardware as unknowable wizard magic(or maybe disinterest) . Where do you think the line should be drawn between hardware/software?

Raspberry Pi seems to have a lot of stuff for children as well.

Re: Should kids learn to code?

#22

Post by throwaway999888 »

davidgerard wrote: post #11

I'll just post my Scratch blog post again: http://reddragdiva.tumblr.com/post/127964136013/it-turns-out... There have been many simple languages for kids, but Scratch appears to be the one that works. Speaking to my daughter's teacher, it's not just the academically-bright kids getting into Scratch - the academically average and academically behind ones do too. It appears to satisfy requirement #1: get the kid intere…

> Speaking to my daughter's teacher, it's not just the academically-bright kids getting into Scratch - the academically average and academically behind ones do too. It appears to satisfy requirement #1: get the kid interested.

But will Scratch make kids advance in the rat race in the long run? Because apparently that's what's important.

Re: Should kids learn to code?

#23

Post by s-phi-nl »

jfaucett wrote: post #15

I disagree with this. I feel like the general idea of "learning to code" is simply typing commands into a machine that then get executed exactly. The coding part teaches very little, just mainly how dumb machines are compared to self-aware human beings. Kids should definately learn how to think algorithmically and understand mathematics/physics concepts (as opposed to repeating some pattern recognition which is to of…

For some reason, this reminds me of Richard Feynman's comments about science education in Brazil: http://v.cx/2010/04/feynman-brazil-education

"'I have discovered something else,' I continued. 'By flipping the pages at random, and putting my finger in and reading the sentences on that page, I can show you what’s the matter – how it’s not science, but memorizing, in every circumstance. Therefore I am brave enough to flip through the pages now, in front of this audience, to put my finger in, to read, and to show you.'"

Re: Should kids learn to code?

#24

Post by davidgerard »

MollyR wrote: post #21
davidgerard wrote: post #11

I'll just post my Scratch blog post again: http://reddragdiva.tumblr.com/post/127964136013/it-turns-out... There have been many simple languages for kids, but Scratch appears to be the one that works. Speaking to my daughter's teacher, it's not just the academically-bright kids getting into Scratch - the academically average and academically behind ones do too. It appears to satisfy requirement #1: get the kid intere…

I've noticed lot of web developers I've worked with view hardware as unknowable wizard magic(or maybe disinterest) . Where do you think the line should be drawn between hardware/software? Raspberry Pi seems to have a lot of stuff for children as well.

Good question! My daughter is a little geek (a gamer in particular ... and identifies as one) and I haven't got her into hardware yet ... if I can think of something a Pi could do that would actually be interesting to her, that would be an excellent approach.

Re: Should kids learn to code?

#25

Post by jeffdavis »

Yes, because it's a literacy issue.

By that I mean that learning something about programming is a prerequisite for such a wide range of things that you will be left in the dark without basic programming knowledge.

Machines have been complex for a long time, far too complex for everyone to understand. But generally, even a novice can understand any one particular detail if they care to. Engines are complex, but you can quickly read up on the cycle it goes through, and get a vague understanding.

Except how the valves are controlled, because now those are computer-controlled, so you must know how a computer works to understand. Before, you could have asked some questions and got an explanation about push rods or cams or something, and walked away feeling comfortable with that explanation.

So programming has become a fundamental dependency to understanding a wide range of things

Re: Should kids learn to code?

#27

Post by mordocai »

jfaucett wrote: post #15

I disagree with this. I feel like the general idea of "learning to code" is simply typing commands into a machine that then get executed exactly. The coding part teaches very little, just mainly how dumb machines are compared to self-aware human beings. Kids should definately learn how to think algorithmically and understand mathematics/physics concepts (as opposed to repeating some pattern recognition which is to of…

To be fair, learning to code also teaches how to break down problems into their most simple pieces which is a very useful skill.

I am myself mixed about the benefits of learning to code. I am currently leaning towards it being equal to the other activities you list, but not greater than.

Re: Should kids learn to code?

#28

Post by steven2012 »

amelius wrote: post #18
malux85 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think there should be a difference, it's just a matter of scale. When they start off coding, it might mean an entire week spent in a single python file: The 50,000 foot view might be "Printing Restaurant Menu", the "line of code" view, might be getting the price of pizza. We're not talking architecture, or operating systems, or networking, or boolean circuit logic, or anything, we're just printing their favou…

Let me make an analogy: we're not going to teach kids how the food industry works before we're teaching them how to bake a cookie. We're also not teaching them about city planning before they had a chance to put some lego bricks together. I think the important thing here is that kids need to see the necessity first. Only then can they start to deal with more abstract concepts. And actually, I don't think this applies…

100% agree. Trying to teach them to break things up into modules won't make sense to them, unless they write a 1000 line program, and then go to change it and things break. They have plenty of time to learn good software engineering practices, decades in fact. They don't need to be a genius at first strike, they just need to learn how to code. Trying to teach them perfection at the beginning is a huge mistake.

Re: Should kids learn to code?

#30

Post by cableshaft »

id122015 wrote: post #12

The article is about what Steve Jobs said, that “Everyone should learn how to program.." but Steve Jobs did not allow his kids to use a computer up to a certain age. As I looked after children I can tell a certainty confirmed by others: "Millenials are cry babies". Nowadays children as small as a few years old want to do what their parents are doing, including to have a girlfriend, before they are able to stop using…

When I was in elementary school in the 1980s, the cool kids as early as 1st grade would be "married" with someone during recess.

It's all a part of children playing, there's nothing wrong with them wanting to have a "girlfriend" like their big brothers or sisters have.

They also want to pretend to be firefighters and astronauts and I don't see people whining about how entitled kids are for wanting that.

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