Why Learning to Code Benefits Kids, Regardless of Future Career Choice
“An understanding of computer science is becoming increasingly essential in today’s world. Our national competitiveness depends upon our ability to educate our children—and that includes our girls—in this critical field.”
—Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, is one of many advocates of computer science education in our country. Educators, technology experts, business leaders, and even celebrities support a new movement with a clear purpose: to teach children to read and write code.
“Coding is the new literacy. To thrive in tomorrow’s society, young people must learn to design, create and express themselves with digital technologies,” says Mitchel Resnick, a media arts and sciences professor at the MIT Media Lab.
Coding is so important because its impact extends far beyond simply creating software and websites. For example, a group of software engineers who were stranded in Boston during a snowstorm realized they could use coding to improve the city’s safety. The problem, they discovered, was that firefighters wasted time trying to find fire hydrants buried in the snow. The software engineers then created a program that identified the location of every fire hydrant in the city, and they used the program to create a website called Adopt-a-Hydrant. On the site, residents of Boston can volunteer to shovel out a nearby hydrant when it snows, improving the neighborhood’s safety in the event of a fire.
Computational Thinking Fosters Problem-Solving Skills
But before children can even identify problems like this that can be solved with coding, they need to learn how computers work and why coding is used. “I don’t think everyone will be a coder, but the ability to speak and structure your thinking in a way a computer understands it will be one of the core future skills[,] whatever your field,” says Linda Liukas, founder of the Rails Girls coding organization. Ultimately, children can benefit from learning code because they learn computational thinking.
Computational thinking is the problem-solving skill that Liukas refers to. Teacher Sol Shaikh expresses the same idea, describing computational thinking as “the logical thought process, the ability to spot mistakes, and a willingness to solve a problem that comes from learning to code.” Developing basic computational thinking skills encourages a way of thinking that can help children in every area of life.
Introduce Kids to Coding with Fun Resources
This year, Computer Science Education Week is from December 8th to the 14th. It’s a great time to introduce your child to coding, and there are a variety of ways to make it fun. Help your child experiment with some of the resources below.
- Frozen Coding Tutorials at Code.org
Tutorials based on the Disney movie Frozen that help kids learn basic coding skills to create ice-skating patterns and more. - ScratchJr
A coding app for kindergartners developed by Mitchel Resnick’s team at MIT, which introduces coding at a young age to make it easier to learn and boost interest early on. - CS Is Fun
Offers coding games and activities, with sections for kids in grades K–5 and grades 6 and up. - Kano
Launched by a Kickstarter campaign, Kano is a kit that allows kids to assemble a small computer and use it to learn basic coding skills. - Made with Code
Google’s $50 million initiative hosts events that offer coding workshops and classes to young women. - Girls Who Code
Offers coding clubs and summer immersion programs to get more girls interested in coding. - Hour of Code with Khan Academy
Offers several hour-long coding activities that students can try for the annual Hour of Code event.
This year, Connections Academy is hosting an Hour of Code: Coding Challenge 2014 during Computer Science Education Week. The Hour of Code is a global event that asks teachers, parents, and schools to dedicate just one hour to teaching coding during Computer Science Education Week. For the event, we will provide step-by-step directions on how to use basic coding skills to create a crazy face design. You can see a compilation of the crazy faces students created last year in this video.
Another event that encourages students to code is Local Hack Day on December 6th. This event unites local communities by giving students with coding skills the chance to collaborate on creative projects. To get involved, you and your student can look for a nearby Local Hack Day event.
How Students Can Learn Coding in High School
If your student is in high school, it’s not too late to see if he or she is interested in coding. Throughout high school, students can explore their interests by taking elective technology classes, such as Game Design, Emergent Computer Technology, and Web Design.
When your student starts exploring careers, tell him or her to consider taking Career Technical Education (CTE) courses in Java programming. He or she can also enroll in AP Computer Science to study coding at the college level.
It’s clear that all students need to develop effective computer skills and a basic understanding of coding, whether or not they take the next step and learn how to code. Join your student during this year’s Hour of Code and then let us know what you and your child think. We’d love to hear from you!
An excellent article highlights ever-changing scape of workflow. It’s quite probable but by the time our students are 30 years old but coding Will be part of the majority of jobs as the world heads for another diesel hurdle.
This seems like an amazing program so even if kids don’t want a job doing this it is still good to know.It also dosnt matter if your in high school you can still learn
If you want something fun and appropriate for kids as young as 5, check out The Foos (http://thefoos.com). My daughters love it!
Thank you so much.Very nice information.
Coding will be a necessity in all future fields of expertise
THIS IS A GOOD INK FOR KIDS TO BE LOOKING UP FOR THR KIDS SO THEY CAN LEANR ABOUT THERE CODES…
This can help you out with things that you need to learn
I would like to be a professional basketball player in the NBA. No I don’t think that this career will require working with computers because you don’t have to do anything dealing with technology. You’ll just have to play basketball. No, but yes at the same time because if i dont make it to the NBA then I will be good at computer coding etc. and my main career goal is to be successful.
I watched the video about Drew Houston who is the founder of DropBox. I found out that he wanted to make computer games and making vido games. No you do not have to be an adult to be an entrepreneur.
No there is no connection between the careers that I chose and he chose. No because as a kid you have one big goal that will most likely change overtime but if you’re passionate about it then you will stick with it. No because we don’t know whats in the future. People dreamed of hoverboards in the future and now we have SegWays which is a hoverboard with wheels.
I would like to be a professional basketball player in the NBA. No I don’t think that this career will require working with computers because you don’t have to do anything dealing with technology. You’ll just have to play basketball. No, but yes at the same time because if i dont make it to the NBA then I will be good at computer coding etc. and my main career goal is to be successful.
I watched the video about Drew Houston who is the founder of DropBox. I found out that he wanted to make computer games and making vido games. No you do not have to be an adult to be an entrepreneur.
No there is no connection between the careers that I chose and he chose. No because as a kid you have one big goal that will most likely change overtime but if you’re passionate about it then you will stick with it. No because we don’t know whats in the future. People dreamed of hoverboards in the future and now we have SegWays which is a hoverboard with wheels.
1: I would like to have the job of either a photographer, or maybe a therapist.
2: Probably. For a photographer you would have to download the photos on the computer. For a therapist I do not know.
3: Most likely, yes
It lets me know that one, others like me have the chance to do something amazing even if they don’t have a idea as to where they are supposed go after they get out of high school.
1. The career that I would like to have would be a Psychiatrist .
2. I think that being a Psychiatrist will require a computer almost everyday because I will have to have my list of clients, my scheduled meetings for that day, our session discussions, and diagnosis’s. Not only that but if I am referring my clients to a doctor to receive medication or other help, I will need to contact the doctor through email to let them know I am referring a client of mine to them.
3. Yes I believe this course will help me in reaching my career goals because it will get me more familiar with how a computer works at a young age and will teach me new ways of using a computer. This in turn could steer me toward a new career that I might be more suited for or more interested in.
coding would be helpful to those that would go after a career with computers or science math. i am going into more of a science wildlife more than math like.
1. I would like to be a photographer
2. Yes. I will have to upload the pictures and edit them.
3. I don’t know. I’m not sure being a photographer has to do with computer programming.
If you had to summarize this entire article; how would you do so?
1: There are many jobs I have considered that revolve around what I want to do. I really like the Spanish language and I would like a job that has something to do with it. Being bilingual will up the variety of jobs I can get and it is required for many jobs.
2: It most likely will require a computer because I may need to send emails or use it to type out papers. I will need a computer.
3: I’m not sure it has anything to do with computer programming.