Coding coming to B.C. schools
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- Buddha of the Board
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Re: Coding coming to B.C. schools
I think this is a great idea. I hope the follow through makes it a regular part of the curriculum.
My reasoning is that I have always lamented the lack of foundation in our educational systems for logic. Teaching logic helps students no matter where their abilities lead them. Coding is an inherently logical process. Teaching logic per se is rather a dry subject, but through coding the students will absorb a lot of logic.
When I was hiring folks for manufacturing and warehousing jobs, I found that logical thinking was a good indicator for a good hire - so it isn't just a "white collar" type thing.
My reasoning is that I have always lamented the lack of foundation in our educational systems for logic. Teaching logic helps students no matter where their abilities lead them. Coding is an inherently logical process. Teaching logic per se is rather a dry subject, but through coding the students will absorb a lot of logic.
When I was hiring folks for manufacturing and warehousing jobs, I found that logical thinking was a good indicator for a good hire - so it isn't just a "white collar" type thing.
The middle path - everything in moderation, and everything in its time and order.
Re: Coding coming to B.C. schools
Being a coder since the early 80's I've always gotten friends that have asked me to teach them how to code ... my response was always, "ok, let's go buy a bike from Walmart" ... their puzzled look always required an explanation
Programming a computer is all about problem solving, same idea behind solving word problems in math ... take a large problem/task and break it down into smaller pieces that you can then teach a computer how to do in the limited syntax that's available ... you have to look at all the parts of a bicycle and figure out what has to be assembled first before you can have a fully working bicycle, logical and functional
Teaching kids to code is going to enable them to apply the same processes to anything in life ... nothing is daunting when you can look at a goal and work out all the small steps that are required to get there
(While I am skeptical of our Liberal governments motives, I do think this needs to happen)
Programming a computer is all about problem solving, same idea behind solving word problems in math ... take a large problem/task and break it down into smaller pieces that you can then teach a computer how to do in the limited syntax that's available ... you have to look at all the parts of a bicycle and figure out what has to be assembled first before you can have a fully working bicycle, logical and functional
Teaching kids to code is going to enable them to apply the same processes to anything in life ... nothing is daunting when you can look at a goal and work out all the small steps that are required to get there
(While I am skeptical of our Liberal governments motives, I do think this needs to happen)
- Rosemary1
- Generalissimo Postalot
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Re: Coding coming to B.C. schools
A good idea. It will all be in the implementation. I do not have a lot of confidence in plan to train all teachers to teach coding either. A better plan would be to create a specific teaching position for someone specializing in coding and technology in general to teach such classes.
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- Grand Pooh-bah
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Re: Coding coming to B.C. schools
spooker wrote:Programming a computer is all about problem solving, same idea behind solving word problems in math ... take a large problem/task and break it down into smaller pieces that you can then teach a computer how to do in the limited syntax that's available ... you have to look at all the parts of a bicycle and figure out what has to be assembled first before you can have a fully working bicycle, logical and functional
Sort of. If it were simply about problem-solving, then math could suffice. In practice, the curriculum could survive with some algebra and some basic Logo.
The programming paradigms of today are vastly different than the procedural programming you would have practiced in the early 80's. Very little is developed in a procedural method any more. Today's modern languages have far surpassed even the basics of functional programming (of which objects exist in). Programming models such as actors, futures and promises, reactive programming are quite commonplace in modern software development. Modern languages (compiled or interpreted) and technologies are very different from the days of learning basic on a Commodore 64 or Apple II.
Good on the province for trying to further improve students' knowledge of technology. Let's just hope they're not trying to teach concepts that are 50 years out of date.
I'd like to change your mind, but I don't have a fresh diaper.
- maryjane48
- Buddha of the Board
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Re: Coding coming to B.C. schools
is it possible for a computer to write code with out human coaching ?
Re: Coding coming to B.C. schools
maryjane48 wrote:is it possible for a computer to write code with out human coaching ?
There have been rudimentary attempts where a template is built by a human and then used to piece together another program based on a set of rules that use templates to assemble something else.
But the human is still needed to design the solution and parameters that the computer uses to generate the code.
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- Grand Pooh-bah
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Re: Coding coming to B.C. schools
spooker wrote:There have been rudimentary attempts where a template is built by a human and then used to piece together another program based on a set of rules that use templates to assemble something else.
But the human is still needed to design the solution and parameters that the computer uses to generate the code.
Probably the best example I can think of is the SDK generator for the AWS API Gateway (which we use at $work).
You can define your API as a swagger doc (YAML or JSON, both being a markup DSL) and import it. You can then generate an SDK bundle for one of the supported languages. It's magic.
However, somebody still had to write the functionality for API Gateway and the related tooling, and the generated SDK itself isn't actual running software - it's just a library suite to allow you to use the API you've defined without having to write that chunk of code yourself.
I'd like to change your mind, but I don't have a fresh diaper.
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- Board Meister
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Re: Coding coming to B.C. schools
I think its a very good idea. I had no exposure to computers until I reached post secondary. Took classes in Basic and Fortran, turned out I really liked programming. So I think the kids having exposure to coding is very progressive teaching. Learning about databases would be good too.