I was about to blog an article like this yesterday, but it seems I do not have to anymore.
Another thing I might add to this exceptional piece of work is that whenever you force anyone to do anything, even if it is intrinsically "fun" (such as mathematics, science, or history, and, yes, coding) it becomes something that people don't want to do anymore.
I'm a teenager; 14 years old to be specific, and I see this on a daily basis. I used to teach my classmates algebraic concepts that they didn't understand fully, and once it "clicked" for them, they usually said something along the lines of "Wow, that is really cool!"
So, this is the main conflict we're facing. You raise a generation of "forced coders," and suddenly, nobody will want to code anymore, which is one problem. However, the other problem is that if you DO end up making forced instruction fun for kids, you will end up with mediocre programmers who think a "Hello World" is the equivalent of earning a CS degree, and startups will have to sift through dozens of perhaps low-quality applications rather than just sifting through the few that have the dedication to learn how to code.
Here's the solution: make CS more accessible to students. Have a bunch more electives on CS and encourage kids to take them. Trying to make coding/programming a part of the curriculum will take away time from important subjects such as composition, literature, science, and mathematics, all of which are arguably now more important than ever with test scores at record lows.
Another thing I might add to this exceptional piece of work is that whenever you force anyone to do anything, even if it is intrinsically "fun" (such as mathematics, science, or history, and, yes, coding) it becomes something that people don't want to do anymore.
I'm a teenager; 14 years old to be specific, and I see this on a daily basis. I used to teach my classmates algebraic concepts that they didn't understand fully, and once it "clicked" for them, they usually said something along the lines of "Wow, that is really cool!"
So, this is the main conflict we're facing. You raise a generation of "forced coders," and suddenly, nobody will want to code anymore, which is one problem. However, the other problem is that if you DO end up making forced instruction fun for kids, you will end up with mediocre programmers who think a "Hello World" is the equivalent of earning a CS degree, and startups will have to sift through dozens of perhaps low-quality applications rather than just sifting through the few that have the dedication to learn how to code.
Here's the solution: make CS more accessible to students. Have a bunch more electives on CS and encourage kids to take them. Trying to make coding/programming a part of the curriculum will take away time from important subjects such as composition, literature, science, and mathematics, all of which are arguably now more important than ever with test scores at record lows.