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Code.org – Dedicated to growing computer programming education

code.org

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Re: Code.org – Dedicated to growing computer programming education

#32
post #3

We need to push two major initiatives in education: the ability to code and the ability to manage finances.

It's not financial management that is the core problem. It is the notion that money is just an inconvenient formality that comes with getting whatever one is told one wants by relentless corporate pressure. It's a positive feedback loop that pushes prices higher and higher as demand is pumped harder and harder which makes people take up more and more debt to keep up.

What needs to be taught is delayed gratification, not needing everything and anything that will just get discarded or disregarded five seconds later. That, that right there, is corporate America's nightmare, Americans that stop squandering their money on inconsequential things. Could you imagine what would happen if Americans even started..... dare I say it.... save money.

Re: Code.org – Dedicated to growing computer programming education

#34
post #32
post #3

We need to push two major initiatives in education: the ability to code and the ability to manage finances.

It's not financial management that is the core problem. It is the notion that money is just an inconvenient formality that comes with getting whatever one is told one wants by relentless corporate pressure. It's a positive feedback loop that pushes prices higher and higher as demand is pumped harder and harder which makes people take up more and more debt to keep up. What needs to be taught is delayed gratification,…

I think that delayed gratification IS a fundamental part of financial management.

Re: Code.org – Dedicated to growing computer programming education

#35
post #23
post #17

I love the addition of Chris Bosh! After coding being hard, in general, I believe that our industry's biggest challenge is it becoming "sexy" or having role models that a vast amount of people can connect with!

All we need is for LeBron and KD to take a summer class in JS or python and tweet about it. Maybe they can do some tasks like analyze their own stats.

That would be awesome

Re: Code.org – Dedicated to growing computer programming education

#36
post #16
post #14

Where's the group pushing "everyone should learn to": be an accountant, doctor, engineer, electrician or a plumber. And on and on and on. Not everyone needs to learn to code. I agree that exposure to it and a basic understanding of it is good, just like other disciplines. But this is already happening! I learnt LOGO in primary school and then mindstorms, VB and HTML in high school. And so did everyone else, they were…

First, that's not nationwide in the US. I'm not aware of it being nationwide anywhere. In my school, there was a computer programming course on the list of choices. It disappeared when the time to actually register arrived. There was a web design course. We used dreamweaver. No one knew HTML. I spent the majority of my time in the class helping the other students do things they couldn't do in dreamweaver. The situati…

Here in NSW Australia there is a Year 11/12 subject "Software Design and Development". This has been there for at least a decade if not longer. It's offered at a majority of high schools. http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/so...

Also in the 7-10 high school syllabus there are options for projects that include: AI simulation and modelling, multimedia authoring, database design, website development, networking, robotics and software development and programming. http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_sc/pdf_doc/inf...

In years 7-10 I found myself helping other students in the class just like yourself. Even though our teacher had formerly held a programming position. That doesn't validate the need for it though. That just shows that it is a very alien topic to most people and that you can't have a single teacher give personalised help to a class of 30 kids.

Re: Code.org – Dedicated to growing computer programming education

#38
post #23
post #17

I love the addition of Chris Bosh! After coding being hard, in general, I believe that our industry's biggest challenge is it becoming "sexy" or having role models that a vast amount of people can connect with!

All we need is for LeBron and KD to take a summer class in JS or python and tweet about it. Maybe they can do some tasks like analyze their own stats.

At Khan Academy, we have a series of videos with LeBron asking science-related questions:

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/lebron-asks

Re: Code.org – Dedicated to growing computer programming education

#39
post #38
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All we need is for LeBron and KD to take a summer class in JS or python and tweet about it. Maybe they can do some tasks like analyze their own stats.

At Khan Academy, we have a series of videos with LeBron asking science-related questions: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/lebron-asks

Yes, I love these videos! The first one I saw was LeBron asking Sal about the likelihood of him hitting 10 free throws in a row.

Re: Code.org – Dedicated to growing computer programming education

#40
post #37

One of the simplest and most accessible forms of coding that most people will encounter in their working lives is the spreadsheet.

In my professional life I haven't found spreadsheets to be a "gateway drug" to programming for people I work with. Spreadsheets are generally used to get something done and then take on a life of their own until they are so critical to a business that their failure can cost enough money to materially damage a business. However, there does seem to be something accessible spreadsheets that perhaps can be used in a slightly modified way to get more people excited about learning to code in a structured programming language.
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