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Rikers Inmates Learn How To Code Without Internet Access (fastcompany.com)
An anonymous reader sends the story of another prison where inmates are learning the basics of programming, despite having no access to the vast educational resources on the internet. Instructors from Columbia University have held a lengthy class at New York's Rikers Island prison to teach the basics of Python. Similar projects have been attempted in California and Oklahoma.
The goal wasn’t to turn the students into professional-grade programmers in just a few classes, [Instructor Dennis] Tenen emphasizes, but to introduce them to the basics of programming and reasoning about algorithms and code. "It’s really to give people a taste, to get people excited about coding, in hopes that when they come out, they continue," says Tenen. ...Having an explicit goal—building the Twitter bot—helped the class focus its limited time quickly on learning to do concrete tasks, instead of getting bogged down in abstract discussions of syntax and algorithms.
Bah, when I learned programming there weren't "vast educational resources on the internet".
It's been done.
Since when the hell have we reached the point of "zomg, someone learned something without teh intertubes"??
Because if other people haven't learned to basics of coding over the last few decades without the use of the internet, I'd be completely shocked. The internet is not a pre-requisite to learning, as much as people seem to think it is.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Hell, I learned a whole about computers without computer. I was 18 when I could afford one, a ZX Spectrum.
Say it ain't so!
My god, there's crual and unusual punishment, but making they have to read from a book - where's Amnesty International when you need them??
How does this idiot think everyone up until the 90s learnt to code?
Only the basics? I learned the BASICs, Pascals, Modulas, and Cs without the internet...
Ah, the old Hans Reiser retirement plan.
Why have them write a Twitter bot if there's no internet access? There are thousands of interesting problems to solve with a computer code. Why that one?
How is this newsworthy at all? I learned programming as a kid from a book in the last 70s, before even BBSs were a common thing. LOTS of people learn that way. Hell it's actually better in many ways as you don't get distracted and can focus.
Coding and programming are two different things (they are related, but they are different). Coding is learning the syntax of a language and the mechanics of implementing a solution to a problem. Programming is analyzing a problem and determining what computational steps are needed to arrive at a solution.
In the mid 70's, my high school offered a FORTRAN programming class out of the math department. It was a full school year class that met daily. For the coding aspect of the class, we had one shot a week on the computer. On Friday we would hand in our punched cards and on Monday the teacher would return the cards and the compile/run printouts (the computer we used was the school district's main system). The time we spent actually coding was done outside the class room.
The majority of the class however was learning how to program. Coding was a secondary aspect of the class (typically one day a week was going over specific FORTRAN concepts). Our first assignment was to break down the steps one used to make a phone call (step 1, walk over to the phone, step 2 pick up receiver, step 3 listen for a dial tone, step 4 if no dial done ...., etc.). We discussed and went over problem solving, algorithms, and how to break a problem down into it's discrete steps. Sometimes the problem was able to be solved without a computer (just analyzing the problem gave the final solution). Our coding assignments were usually stripped down problems that demonstrated that we could actually implement the solution (if I remember correctly, the biggest coding assignment was maybe 50 or so statements long).
In the parent article, it sounds almost the same. They are being introduced on how to program.
In today's environment, there are a lot of coding frameworks that have pre-canned solutions that address many typical programming requirements. So it's easy to approach solving a problem by learning the frameworks and connecting the pieces together. The real programming has already been done within the framework. This is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that a lot of people can code a solution to many real-life problems without needing to really understand the programming aspect. The curse is that the solution will more then likely be bloated, and computationally inefficient.
The internet really helps with coding, it acts as a helpful reference for finding frameworks, the syntax of languages and little coding snippets.
I think it's a really good thing to try to help prisoners learn a skill. Anything that reduces recidivism is a good thing.
However...have they thought of where these inmates would work when they came out? You can't get a job with the vast majority of companies if you have bad credit, let alone a criminal record. Everyone wonders why the recidivism rate is so high -- this is one of the reasons. If you can only get crappy off the books jobs, you're more likely to return to crime because it pays better.
This is the major problem with the age of easy, cheap record checks. The second you're involved with the police at all, even if you're not convicted, your resume will immediately be tossed in favor of someone who doesn't have a record. Basically, sentencing someone to prison is permanently writing them off no matter for how long or for which crime. The inability to get meaningful work later on, combined with being housed with violent angry people for a long time doesn't make for a well adjusted person when they do get out.
You merely contract to an overseas resource. The Indian company sells their services to mega-corp US, and use you as part of a pool of developers. Don't expect a decent income, though. Most globals are doing this already. They buy coding resources from India, get the source back, bang it into shape. It's far cheaper to get 90% for not a lot, and fix the bugs. The banking/c-card industry got in their first. Manufacturing and retail will be next.
The Indian companies won't hire Americans. They only believe in Globalism when it benefits them.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
You're more likely to get background checked as a gardener than a programmer at a startup or small business. Nobody expects a programmer to have a record, so they're not looking for it.
If there's even a checkbox on the application, you just lie. Chances are good that they'll never check at a small place. And it's a safe bet that while you won't get hired if they do, and an even smaller chance that you'd get fired if they find out later, they won't bin your application if you lie.
I did, he was a corporate VP by the time we got bought out. It costs more to screen them, but they tend to stay a lot longer than the entitled generation, are willing to learn new things, and are a lot more resourceful than our standard employee with a CS degree. My experience has been largely in the programming field, with most of the convictions drug related, and we've only had about a dozen. Hell, one who worked with me for 5 years went to one of the defense contractors and got a security clearance; I was interviewed in his clearance process. There are plenty of organizations who are willing to hire a good employee in spite of a criminal record. There are, on the other hand, a bunch of ex-cons who haven't decided to change their lifestyle, so calling references is crucial.
Whatever happened to the "debt to society: paid" notion?
Can companies legally discriminate based on a served sentence?
My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.