Superstar? Good one.
He's a hall of famer who's currently in his prime, so I'd say yes, he is a superstar.
Not that it matters. What matters is the message and we should be discussing that.
NBA Superstar Chris Bosh: Here’s Why You Should Learn to Code
51–60 of 93 posts
Re: NBA Superstar Chris Bosh: Here’s Why You Should Learn to Code
#52This is pretty cool. An NBA player who gets how relevant and essential code is in terms of how the world functions. He is able to express this and reach an audience that might not otherwise be exposed to its importance.
Re: NBA Superstar Chris Bosh: Here’s Why You Should Learn to Code
#53"If someone in school would have explained to me that coding could reach millions directly or indirectly and make their lives better, it would’ve sparked my interest much sooner." - completely agree, programming was not introduced to me correctly until after college. Even if public schools don't have the resources to hire a teacher who is, by training, a programmer, there is no reason why students can't be exposed to…
I recently decided to stop talking about teaching kids to code, and actually do it. I don't plan to quite my job as a developer to become a full time teacher, so instead I started an after school program. This was made a lot easier because my wife is a high school teacher. We started a technology club at her high school with the dual goals of showing kids really interesting things that can be done with technology as well as actually teaching them some coding skills.
We've only been running for a few weeks but we've got about ten kids showing up every week. So far I've shown them some demos of things like using Google maps in your own software, making your own maps with TileMill, browser based games with Crafty, and phone call and SMS stuff with Twilio. They seemed to respond positively to all the demos but were very excited about the Twilio demo. I'm not surprised, because I also thought the ability to type something into a text area in the browser and then receive a phone call with that text read to me, is pretty sweet!
Most recently we started doing some basic HTML. Pages, images, links, etc. The kids were simultaneously making jokes about how simplistic it was ("oh wow, text on a page") and super excited to be creating something ("look I made it say something different", "cool, let me try!").
So basically what I'm saying is that if you have the opportunity, stop just "spreading the word about programming" and actually work with some kids to teach them something. It's only been a few weeks, but already it feels like very fulfilling work, and hopefully it will make a difference to expose these kids to the what's possible for them to do earlier than they might otherwise encounter it.
Re: NBA Superstar Chris Bosh: Here’s Why You Should Learn to Code
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's a response I use whenever people tell me compulsory schooling as it exists now is essential so kids can function in the real world. You learn little-to-no real-world skills in a basic K-12 (US) curriculum. If you'll let me put my tin foil hat on, I would say its possible that personal finance isn't taught deliberately - banks want people to be worse at money and debt management so they can make more money off…
>> I would say its possible that personal finance isn't taught deliberately - banks want people to be worse at money and debt management so they can make more money off them Public education seems to me to be one of the few sectors that big banks exert little to no influence on. The main problem is cyclical, many teachers and administrators never got this training, and so aren't well equipped to teach and advocate fo…
I agree with your point about it being a cyclical problem, but have to disagree with the part about supply and demand. Much of what has to be taught in public schools is dictated by government policy (both state and federal). Art and music classes are typically some of the first things to be cut when there are budget constraints, so a surplus of those types of teachers leads to a surplus of unemployed teachers (or retraining for a different subject), not a surplus of those classes being offered.
Re: NBA Superstar Chris Bosh: Here’s Why You Should Learn to Code
#55"If someone in school would have explained to me that coding could reach millions directly or indirectly and make their lives better, it would’ve sparked my interest much sooner." - completely agree, programming was not introduced to me correctly until after college. Even if public schools don't have the resources to hire a teacher who is, by training, a programmer, there is no reason why students can't be exposed to…
"...where the final was just making a PowerPoint, and half the class just played Oregon Trail during." I honestly think this is the biggest issue and the main motivator for teaching coding. The issue is our computer courses are designed to be 'How to Learn Microsoft Office on Microsoft Windows', any deviation from THAT curriculum already punishes the student. Then, its re-enforced by repitive 'this is how you bold' w…
These skills are important for kids who may not have grown up with a computer in the home.
Both classes are necessary.
Re: NBA Superstar Chris Bosh: Here’s Why You Should Learn to Code
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> I would say its possible that personal finance isn't taught deliberately - banks want people to be worse at money and debt management so they can make more money off them Public education seems to me to be one of the few sectors that big banks exert little to no influence on. The main problem is cyclical, many teachers and administrators never got this training, and so aren't well equipped to teach and advocate fo…
I agree with your point about it being a cyclical problem, but have to disagree with the part about supply and demand. Much of what has to be taught in public schools is dictated by government policy (both state and federal). Art and music classes are typically some of the first things to be cut when there are budget constraints, so a surplus of those types of teachers leads to a surplus of unemployed teachers (or re…
"a surplus of those types of teachers leads to a surplus of unemployed teachers."
Yet, when budgets increase, these are the first to return, and the useful classes are never offered. I'm not arguing that art and music teachers end up unemployed first, but their existence is still what drives the lobbying for these programs. Government education policy (at the curriculum, not budget level), is substantially influenced by teachers unions.
Re: NBA Superstar Chris Bosh: Here’s Why You Should Learn to Code
#57"If someone in school would have explained to me that coding could reach millions directly or indirectly and make their lives better, it would’ve sparked my interest much sooner." - completely agree, programming was not introduced to me correctly until after college. Even if public schools don't have the resources to hire a teacher who is, by training, a programmer, there is no reason why students can't be exposed to…
I recently decided to stop talking about teaching kids to code, and actually do it. I don't plan to quite my job as a developer to become a full time teacher, so instead I started an after school program. This was made a lot easier because my wife is a high school teacher. We started a technology club at her high school with the dual goals of showing kids really interesting things that can be done with technology as…
Sounds like you are enjoying running these workshops (the pupils will notice that and respond of course)!
Suggest you pop basic documentation of the demos and what you evolve as the club progresses somewhere for other people with the skills to use as some kind of model, or at least a starting point.
Re: NBA Superstar Chris Bosh: Here’s Why You Should Learn to Code
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recently decided to stop talking about teaching kids to code, and actually do it. I don't plan to quite my job as a developer to become a full time teacher, so instead I started an after school program. This was made a lot easier because my wife is a high school teacher. We started a technology club at her high school with the dual goals of showing kids really interesting things that can be done with technology as…
Sounds like you are enjoying running these workshops (the pupils will notice that and respond of course)! Suggest you pop basic documentation of the demos and what you evolve as the club progresses somewhere for other people with the skills to use as some kind of model, or at least a starting point.
I have the basics up on GitHub at https://github.com/madisonpdx. I also plan to teach them how to use Git, but while version control is important, it didn't seem like the most exciting thing to begin with. I have been directing the students to the GitHub page though to get them comfortable with the idea of browsing open source code and possibly looking for other projects that interest them.
Re: NBA Superstar Chris Bosh: Here’s Why You Should Learn to Code
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds like you are enjoying running these workshops (the pupils will notice that and respond of course)! Suggest you pop basic documentation of the demos and what you evolve as the club progresses somewhere for other people with the skills to use as some kind of model, or at least a starting point.
I have the basics up on GitHub at https://github.com/madisonpdx . I also plan to teach them how to use Git, but while version control is important, it didn't seem like the most exciting thing to begin with. I have been directing the students to the GitHub page though to get them comfortable with the idea of browsing open source code and possibly looking for other projects that interest them.
Wow!
What age range are these pupils?
Is your wife planning to describe this club and its impact on the general motivation and development of the pupils to her school governors and local professional development forums?
Re: NBA Superstar Chris Bosh: Here’s Why You Should Learn to Code
#60"If someone in school would have explained to me that coding could reach millions directly or indirectly and make their lives better, it would’ve sparked my interest much sooner." - completely agree, programming was not introduced to me correctly until after college. Even if public schools don't have the resources to hire a teacher who is, by training, a programmer, there is no reason why students can't be exposed to…
I recently decided to stop talking about teaching kids to code, and actually do it. I don't plan to quite my job as a developer to become a full time teacher, so instead I started an after school program. This was made a lot easier because my wife is a high school teacher. We started a technology club at her high school with the dual goals of showing kids really interesting things that can be done with technology as…
I became interested in computers in part because of a middle school teacher's similar weekly after-school program (TRS-80s!!). Thank you very much for improving these kids lives.