You may have read that UK schools are to teach the kids about coding/computer programming. As an apprentice trained programmer and a world class computational scientist (and I dont write that lightly), I am worried that this will end up being the blind leading the blind - just like teachers with no background in maths going on a day course to learn about maths and then teaching our kids - it would be a disaster right? Coding is simply not something schools and teachers can just pick up. It requires years of apprenticeship just like any other subject, before knowledge can be passed on. So I am wracking my brains thinking about how we can help local teachers, schools and parents - and ultimately the kids with this, through our own real world experience. One idea I have in mind is that an entry point into coding could be via building simple you tube apps like the one below. Because you tube interactive videos can be linked up across videos and even across channels, this would allow class/school/town level projects. youtu.be/4qQxk4n3y0A For example, taking this simple app, we could get groups of 12 kids to each build a 1 to 12 times table and then link them up to create a whole. Or perhaps we should get 12 teachers to do it first. Such exercises would give the basic understandings of practical coding. Am I the only one worried about this?
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 11:36:30 +0000