Teaching Coding

Why Code?

“Everybody in this country should learn to program a computer, because it teaches you how to think.”

Steve Jobs

I don’t think coding is central because I am a Computing teacher, but rather that I am a Computing teacher because I am aware of the importance of coding and technology education.

It is beyond sad that coding is mainly the remit of Computing rather than a basic literacy belonging the the realm of education in general, because all children need to be aware of the degree to which their life is governed by code. You learn to code in order to understand how life around you is governed by codes and also how better or more ethical code can make it better. This has serious ramifications in both commercial and political spheres and goes well beyond realising that code decides what Netflix will suggest you watch this evening! For a clear exemplification of this, one may need lookno further than this article where renowned historian Yuval Noah Harari gives us his take on how code can be used, misused and abused in a pandemic reality.

Secondly coding is arguably one of the subjects most condusive to the teaching of 21st century skills.

On Methodology

This puts the onus on us Computing teachers to get the teaching of coding ‘right’…and perhaps this is the most important journey for the Computing Teacher.

Article on Teaching Coding Methodology

• Top Ten Tips for your first year teaching Computer Science

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Coding Games

That’s what games are, in the end. Teachers. Fun is just another word for learning

Raph Koster

There is a wealth of resources out there that can give anyone a glimpse of what it is to code. These resources can give educators ideas for their leassons and can also help the absolute novice self-learn at their own pace.

Here I’m only linking three such resources, but a quick Google search can yield many more.

These apps lend themselves beautifully to a gamified approach…and this makes one reflect on the ease with which learning to code itself lends itself to gamification.