There seems to be two extremes of this whole "Learn to Code" movement which has come to a crescendo with the "What most schools don't teach" video from Code.org.
People seem to fall on the side of "Everyone should learn to code! Teach the babies Common Lisp!" or "Not everyone can be a programmer! Relax!"
Surely we can ALL agree that this discussion isn't about code at all. "Code" is just a convenient and press-friendly way to say "think in algorithms, think about problems, think about how things fit together."
It seems a little disingenuous to focus so much on teaching first graders to code or third graders about robots while simultaneously shuttering music, art and drama programs. Our expectations of our students when it comes to math, with some suggesting we stop teaching algebra.
We need to teach kids to think and to be excited about thinking.
Code should be taught - in age appropriate ways - as part of a larger "solving problems" curriculum.
Thinking should be cool.
Why is everyone trying to get everyone else to code? One word: Empowerment. Code represents power. The power to create, the power to change, the power to influence. Code also represents money to many. It is a raw representation of both intellect and instinctually property.
But woodworking, art, sculpture, drama and music are all ways to create and influence. They just don't have price tags as impressive.
There's clearly a Digital Divide and it's bigger than just blue collar and white collar workers. It's as big as the STEM (science technology engineering math) divide. Are you a computer person? Or not?
A family friend almost lost their domain a few months back. Had they lost it, it would have decimated their whole non-technical business. It was extremely confusing for them to tease out the difference between who owned the domain and held it, who hosted the DNS and who hosted the site. In their case, GoDaddy controlled it ALL and they got locked out of everything. An hour of whiteboarding and some moving things around got them setup at DNSimple and SquareSpace and put them in control of the tech they cared about.
I hate to see small businesses being charged thousands for things they could easily do themselves.
- Said the Software Engineer who hired a guy to fix his toilet.
How/when could they have learned this incantation? In school? on TV? Or should they have puzzled it out themselves? How far should it go?
Learn the Basics. If you're excited, learn more.
Learning to code, to me, is no different from me having someone teach me basic woodworking, gardening, or kitchen tile. After each of these projects my sense of personal empowerment increased. In each situation learned how to think about a problem and solve it. I can do this. I can change my world.
Take a minute and read 101 Basic Homesteading Skills. I came out knowing about 9 of these, thereby ensuring my quick death in the coming Zombie Apocalypse.
You may have noticed that not a lot of software engineers thrive in ZombieMovies. Just sayin'.
— Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) March 4, 2013
We should learn a little of everything and a lot about the essentials. Is learning to code essential? No, not yet.
Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Algorithms
But perhaps it is time for "Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Algorithms" in school. For loops, while loops. I love this idea on "How to train your robot. The parents are the robots and the kids give them a list of instructions (a "program") to accomplish a simple task. A kinesthetic and tactile way to teach a young kid to think without staring at a screen. Read more about this at OffBeatFamilies and get the materials at Dr. Techniko's blog.
Procedural and Functional thinking, as well as other concepts like Project Management and Time Management are essential components of an empowered individual. These are teaching people to think. Teach them a little code and a little music and a little art, then nurture their excitement and try to turn it into empowerment. Everyone should get a chance and be exposed to all of this.
At the very least, I'd love for everyone to come out of high school with enough math/science/technology be able to wallow in the magic and wonder of the greatest joke ever (origin unknown). ;)
An engineer walks into a bar and orders 1.0E20 root beers.
Bartender: "That's a root beer float."
Engineer: "Make it a double."
I'm still giggling at this one, years later.
What do you think?
© 2013 Scott Hanselman. All rights reserved.
