Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
hackeducation.com
Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
1–10 of 37 posts
Re: Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
#2I have to agree. This is not how you learn to code, and I'd say the reason this is only coming out now, is because others knew better.
Re: Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
#3i mostly agree with this. the way you learn how to code is the same way you learn anything else: by doing it. that is, you want to know so bad that you try to do it or someone forces you to do it. that's 80% of the battle.
mentorship, tools, and pedagogy (and badges!) probably make up the other 20% of the battle, though. codeacademy fits there. i don't know if what they have is effective or not, but surely they are smart enough to know that whether their courses are effective is very important to their business. hence, they will tweak, iterate, and improve to enhance that.
Re: Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
#4I am kind of surprised by this, especially given all of the positive comments. It took Audrey's post to make me realize that if I were reading HN, a lot of those positive comments would be, well..technical people.
So now I'm torn. My girlfriend is a graphic designer who wants to learn to code, and I'll probably have her give CodeAcademy a shot. And then maybe CodeSchool, since I have a subscription.
How have the non-CS/programmers of HN learned to code? I learned programming in a CS context, so I don't really know how to tell people where to start.
Re: Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
#5I find this to be incredibly short-sighted.
Educational tech pundits are so quick to judge new ways of learning based on the content they have right now. I'm incredibly excited by things like Codecademy (and obviously Khan Academy) because what we're seeing is the very beginning.
From the article: "If you were to sit me down in front of a blank IDE and ask me to build something, I wouldn’t have any clue how to begin. (And the fact that I know what an IDE is probably sets me apart from a lot of novice would-be programmers.)
I can set a variable..."
Go find either A) a bunch of college freshman who just took their first couple programming classes or B) a bunch of self-learners who just read their first chapters of a programming book, and I bet you'll find similar feelings.
I don't know if it'll be Codecademy or any other product that exists right now, but I do know that a tool that helps anyone learn how to program is something that's worth the chase. Let 'em get started.
Re: Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
#6I’ve opted to learn JavaScript, mainly because I think it’s one of the essential building blocks of the Web.
I would say that JavaScript is (Not) essential, not essential at all.
The building blocks of web software are the agnostic components of LAMP (operating system + web server + database + backend CGI processor.) And, we're even removing some (all?) of those building blocks. For the front-end apps on the web browser platform, maybe start by painting, then learning HTML, then CSS, then JavaScript. Use JavaScript sparingly for special effects and extra help, but not as the main line of your story.
The most useful code, is code that is not even written because you don't need to (especially if you're not sure how to code in the first place), and code that gets removed is even better. And, interfaces that don't show themselves are a big improvement too.
My advice would be learn how (Not) to Code. Still, be persistent and learn how to code, but go even further and learn how not to code.
Re: Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
#7I am kind of surprised by this, especially given all of the positive comments. It took Audrey's post to make me realize that if I were reading HN, a lot of those positive comments would be, well..technical people. So now I'm torn. My girlfriend is a graphic designer who wants to learn to code, and I'll probably have her give CodeAcademy a shot. And then maybe CodeSchool, since I have a subscription. How have the non-…
I taught myself to code (HTML, CSS, and a small amount of PHP — Wordpress) while I was doing a Graphic Design ND. I think the hardest part for me, like Audrey, was trying to understand what a lot of the terms mean and also the concepts behind them.
I distinctly remember following a basic HTML & CSS tutorial and not being able to work out how to get the CSS to style the HTML. The example code worked fine, but the relationship between the two wasn't explained so when I wrote my own it didn't work.
I only learned of semantics 12 months after starting with HTML + CSS. It would have made a massive difference if someone had pointed me to a beginners guide (online & free, of course) that explained the way the web was born and how HTML is a way of assigning meaning to a document.
I think a lot of the problem is the people writing the tutorials and resources for this kind of stuff want to teach people something, while the people looking for this stuff want to learn it. Perhaps this is why a lot of Google's results for these kind of things are forum threads and other discussions (usually filled with outdated or plain wrong information, I might add).
Re: Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
#8i mostly agree with this. the way you learn how to code is the same way you learn anything else: by doing it. that is, you want to know so bad that you try to do it or someone forces you to do it. that's 80% of the battle. mentorship, tools, and pedagogy (and badges!) probably make up the other 20% of the battle, though. codeacademy fits there. i don't know if what they have is effective or not, but surely they are s…
I first seriously(?) learned how to code by finding a used Pascal book and reading it thoroughly. That was some time after getting my first computer and not knowing where to find a compiler! (I'm not counting forgotten Logo from summer class long ago or using elaborate triggers in a MUD.) I had serious learning problems getting far past that unguided. Finally learning C from some lecture notes was a growth spurt though I had looked at some C before that. Trying to calculate the fewest coins to add up to a sum and finding optimal new coin took like a couple weeks! LOL
Re: Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
#9I've given codecademy a try and must say while it's fun to get through the task as a non-programmer who's trying to learn it's confusing. Often I can complete a task but then not really understand what I just did.
I'm trying to teach myself how to program for Android and find that pretty difficult. I do know HTML and CSS but when it comes to finding current, good information on Android I'm having trouble. I've ended up having to resort to purchasing books.
With HTML and CSS I learned at the P2PU http://p2pu.org/en/groups/all/?school=school-of-webcraft which I think is terrific if you get a good group and instructor.
Re: Codecademy and the Future of (Not) Learning to Code
#10I find this to be incredibly short-sighted. Educational tech pundits are so quick to judge new ways of learning based on the content they have right now . I'm incredibly excited by things like Codecademy (and obviously Khan Academy) because what we're seeing is the very beginning. From the article: "If you were to sit me down in front of a blank IDE and ask me to build something, I wouldn’t have any clue how to begin…
I guess I don't understand the Author's sense of entitlement here. Someone took time to build a tool to help her learn to code, and she found it difficult. Different people learn in different ways. For some (many?), making it fun and adding badges is a way to keep the motivation going when things are confusing. I don't think the Codeacademy guys are trying to build the perfect tool for everyone, they're trying to build something that works really well for some people.