Matthias Johnson wrote:
In regards to public schools I think computer programming is a hard
nut to crack.
I'm not sure that formal programming classes even belong in K-12. How
many teachers (math, science, business) are qualified to teach good
programming practices, as well as the language of choice itself?
<old timer alert>
I remember way back in ought '72 being thrilled to teach myself BASIC on
our school computer -- actually an acoustic-coupled phone dialup on a
134 baud TeleType to a PDP-8 owned by a school 30 miles away. We
essentially taught ourselves, because at that point there were no PCs or
home computers, and no teacher had the faintest idea how to program.
Later, the algebra teacher tried to teach FORTRAN to a few of us, but he
couldn't get beyond "Numbers are things like F8.2". I went off to
college in '76 and learned proper FORTRAN -- on punch cards. Ah yes,
"Computing Fundamentals for Engineers" -- that course did more to turn
off people to computers than anything else you could think of. Most of
my fellow engineering students couldn't wait to never see a computer again.
</old timer alert>
It probably still holds true that most HS teachers are unqualified to
teach computer science, and the vast majority of students are
intellectually incapable of learning programming, so you might as well
let those who are interested and capable teach themselves/each other. If
there's a school computer lab with some machines available that a
Computer Club can use, so much the better, but it's not vital for K-12
schools to try to teach programming skills.
It would be a far better use of school time and resources to teach
ethics in a digital world, as well as the basics of web use and
office-type applications. As I mentioned before, repetitive skill drills
in math, spelling, typing, and such would also be good uses for
computers in K-12. As I said yesterday, simulating expensive or
hazardous physics and chemistry experiments is better than nothing at
all (the local HS just blew up a lab yesterday, injuring 8). I can't
imagine why students of that age would need laptops.
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