Week Six Reflection

Essential question: What are the compelling arguments both for and against computer coding in schools?

This week I have been at the Alaska Society for Technology in Education (ASTE) conference in Anchorage.  There were many sessions dedicated to teaching coding to our students. Many schools have incorporated coding classes into their schedules and there has been a large emphasis placed on getting our students to code. Organizations like code.org and Girls Who Code have popped up all over the place. 

As we know computing and programming jobs are prevalent and likely to increase in the future.  According to code.org, "Computing jobs are the number one source of new wages in the US" (code.org, 2020). Programming is becoming more integrated into everything we do and is an excellent way to teach our students problem-solving and critical thinking skills (3 Reasons, 2015).

Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

However, just like anything in education coding is not one size fits all.  Not every student needs to know how to code; we all won't be developing apps in the future. Exposure to coding is important, but we should not be focused on making every student a coder. "Learning the fundamentals of coding provides students with skills that will serve them well in virtually any career they choose" (Harrell, 2015).

While researching I clicked on this article by Gottfried Sehringer and really enjoyed his take on teaching students to code (2015).  He said there is value in coding, but it may not be the best way to do things in the future.  He used this quote by Henry Ford to really send the message home, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” So rather than focusing on students learning to code we should be having them code to learn and help them develop a growth mindset that can change and adapt quickly as the technology around them will inevitably continue to morph.

Resources:

3 Reasons Coding Should Be a Core Subject. (2015, September 30). Retrieved from https://www.gettingsmart.com/2015/09/3-reasons-coding-should-be-a-core-subject/

Code.org. (2020). Why Computer Science? Retrieved February 24, 2020, from https://code.org/promote

Sehringer, G. (2015, August 7). Should We Really Try to Teach Everyone to Code? Retrieved February 24, 2020, from https://www.wired.com/insights/2015/02/should-we-really-try-to-teach-everyone-to-code/

Harrell, M. (2015, March 17). Add Coding to Your Elementary Curriculum. . . Right Now. Retrieved February 24, 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/add-coding-elementary-curriculum-now-matt-harrell