Computer Science: The Future of Education
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/computer-science-future-of-education-alison-derbenwick-miller
Just like the title suggests, this article talks about how students are surrounded by computer technology and also mentions the other ways technology helps society. (law enforcement, the medical field etc)
I thought this was an interesting statistic: According to the US Bureau of Labor, by 2020 there will be 1.4 million new computer science jobs. Currently, we only have 400,000 computer scientists trained to fill those roles. It states that "Teachers and schools must act now to address student readiness and to expand access to computer science curriculum to help foster interest in computer science." The author of this article, suggests that it becomes a "core component" of every child's education.
There are 5 steps schools can do now to help incorporate computer science education in all schools.
1. Teachers can register for training courses
2. Educate students about career opportunities
3. Teachers can offer extra credit to develop computer based skills and create projects
4. Mentoring programs in this field for students
5. Using age appropriate coding apps like Scratch for younger students, makegameswithus for high schoolers
I chose this article, because it differed from many of the other articles I have read and/or responsed to. So often, we focus on using and integrating technology in class to further our lessons and to make them more meaningful and interesting. I never considered using technology as a way to guide them towards a career in computer science!? Even at a young age. Something to think about. I know I would need lots of training in this area in order to train younger students.
This is interesting. When I was looking for my article for the second post, I came across an article that mentioned that the UK is adding coding as a requirement in both elementary and secondary schools. I think it was supposed to start this year. I think coding is an area that more students would take an interest in if they were exposed to it earlier on in their education. It also helps develop good problem solving and trouble shooting skills. We have one programming class at the high school that Bill teaches and I have some students that will write programs for their calculators but it's not something that a lot of our students are exposed to. I used to do more with entering code in the calculators, but now that connectivity is better we can link them up and transfer programs without manually typing them in so I have gotten away from it.
ReplyDeleteI think you are going to find that coding is being suggested as something to become more than optional in schools. Don't forget that we are preparing students now to be college or career ready!
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