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Want To Get Kids Interested In Programming? Teach Them Computer History
An anonymous reader writes "With poor IT teaching putting kids off pursuing a career in the computing it is time to look for a new approach. Taking kids back to the time of computing pioneers like John Von Neumann and the first machines — the likes of the Z3, the Eniac and the Colossus — would both inspire them and help get over the fundamentals about how computers work, argues silicon.com."
...with PowerPoint.
>:(
Because there's nothing more that kids love more than history lessons. Seriously, most kids have access to a computer these days. Those with the interest and aptitude will find themselves in the industry or academia, more likely through gaming than through history.
Being part of the generation Z, sometimes I still wonder how people survived with less than one megabyte of memory, no tabs (no Internet!)... Depressing!
Given the opportunity to teach Informatics to Diagnostic Radiology Imaging students, almost all in their 20s, I decided to start with a first lesson about history of computing, and I started from the ancient times when the most sophistcated calculator was the abacus. Guess what? Almost all of them listening, interested about something that's not really about their business.
I plan to DISCOURAGE my kids from a career in IT. If I could do it over, I would have never done this. It's not fun anymore, it's corporate ran, innovation is disallowed and the 1-800 number to call customer support is far more important that easily disposable employees. Up until around 2001, having of crew of guys to build the network, code, admin support is now down to the bare minimum to call support. I'll teach my kids IT in general, but I won't encourage it as career choice.
We need to stop this belief that people have, that computers are appliances. They're not, and it's this thinking that's putting the younger generations off of learning how machines work.
In today's world, a computer is seen as an appliance /are/ single use appliances
and I admit, I'm not too interested in how the programmable software portion of my washing machine or car's climate control system operates
They
Lack of knowledge in these cases doesn't hinder me
But a computer is highly versatile and can be put to pretty much any task
Lack of knowledge here is hugely detrimental to what one is capable of achieving
Knowledge of computing needs to be seen as a core life-skill akin to basic maths or language skills
Lack of knowledge of either of those will put you at a disadvantage in almost any conceivable situation
Don't put the entire blame on schools and education
The hobbyist element is what's suffering most here, the desire to know
not the formal education side
Most people will not go into jobs where formal academic knowledge of computers is paramount /how/ to find out a solution to a common problem is essential to everybody
but the life-skill of knowing
It's Apple, and other companies trying to follow suit, that are largely responsible for the erosion of such curious tinkering
"The battery's non-replaceable. Don't worry, if it dies return it to us and we'll send you another device"
"You can only install programs we endorse. Don't worry, this is for your safety"
"That's the wrong way to do something. This is the way we do it, and it should be the way you do too"
"Don't ask questions. Just do what we tell you and it'll /just work/"
Let's make something that is uncool, boring!
That'll draw those adhd bieber followers right in!
Btw, why are we concentrating on 3D for a group
of people that have hair covering one eye??
Sometimes both?
Face it... this is a new world, don't try to draw
someone in, to something they are not interested
in. The internet is a really good evolutionary tool.
People that seek knowledge will seek it, those
that have an interest in the computer fields, will
seek it.
Don't force the burger flippers to learn about tech...
do YOU want to flip your own burgers?
-AI
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion
The reason kids find it difficult to learn programming is because it is taught in a drab uninteresting manner.
Well at least there are no false expectations of fun for when (if) they get a job coding ..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Of course, being a code monkey is no good, but as far as I tell, people with a good quality comp sci degrees, especially with good background in math or physics, are still in great demand, and end up working on some really interesting stuff.
AccountKiller
Sorry, this article presumes a falsehood.
What poor teaching in Comp Sci is going on where exactly?
The reason people are leaving IT is because the job opportunities aren't there. I'll say it- outsourcing and H1Bs in the US and similar measures in other countries. .
How long does it for word from the older brother / friend to the younger brother / friend that the career choices aren't there and they should major in something else?
How rampant is age discrimination in IT?
When the boom hit in 1990s , people poured into IT because of the job opportunities. If this thesis is to believed , it was because the teaching was somehow better back then and today it's gone downhill, so people are leaving.
Nice try. It's all about the economics of being a software engineer. The two things that have changed those economics are
1) oversupply of labor through the devices of outsourcing and false claims made by corporations of desperate IT labor shortages coupled with lobbying Congress to increase, or make unlimited, the number of visas available for IT workers.
Software patents which stifle innovation and curtail opportunities for programming entrepreneurs.
The fact that both of these policies give unnatural leverage over marketplace dynamics to large corporations who in turn fund the re-election campaigns of the lawmakers who pass these laws means means ... everything.
The free market is a great thing until it works to drive up wages for workers. Then it's a tragedy of epic propositions and someone somewhere has to do something!! That someone is generally your senator.
If they taught them recent computer history, like the last 10-20 years or so, then they would feel closer to the action and see where their place is to jump on the train. Teaching 1950s computing is likely to just lose them because the technology is so different.
It stuck me then it would be the most perfect teaching tool, because you could do anything with it from teaching the von Neumann architecture to running BASIC on a terminal. The processor and its support chips are long dead (I'm writing about the late 70s), and there doesn't seem to be any modern equivalent.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
I guess it's my bias, but I don't put a lot of stock in certifications and those you listed have nothing to do with programming. Certifications show that you know how to use the technology du jour but don't demonstrate that you have a fundamental understanding of how computers work. I'd also be suspect of a degree program that focuses on .NET or any one particular framework.
When I'm looking to supplement our staff, sure I'd like to have somebody who's experienced with the technology we're using at the moment. At the same time, I'd take a clearly talented C++ developer whose never written a line of Java in his life and who really wants the job over somebody who is competent with Java but otherwise nothing to get excited about.
Good programmers are good programmers regardless of language and they should be able to easily pick up new ones.
I agree. If you have something to pair that programming skill up with, it can make a huge difference.
I find in my classes that in general, people are alright with history to some degree. Interesting knowledge, but not super motivational to do it on its own. However, the women in the class really get more talkative once I point out important women in the history of computing and science. It's such a male dominated field that I think it encourages them that there's nothing wrong with having an interest in it. Men do not perceive the same bias in the workplace and so are less influenced by the personal stories of struggle and success.