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WSJ: New Education Bill To Get More Coding In Classrooms
theodp writes: The WSJ's Yoree Koh reports that computer science has been recognized as important an academic subject as math and English in the new Every Student Succeeds Act, putting it on equal footing with other subjects when state and local policymakers decide how to dole out federal funds. The law is likely to be a boon for tech companies, Koh adds, which constantly face a shortage of engineers to hire, and have backed Code.org to lobby for computer science teaching in schools. "This legislation will increase access to STEM and computer science learning nationwide and will advance some of the goals outlined in Microsoft's National Talent Strategy," said Microsoft in a blog post. "ESSA makes a number of significant improvements to expand access to computer science education by diverse populations in urban, suburban, and rural areas," explained the ACM. As far as CS and STEM goes, the bill calls for "increasing access for students through grade 12 who are members of groups underrepresented in such subject fields, such as female students, minority students, English learners, children with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged students."
If this was approached with the same rigor that we teach calculus or chemistry then perhaps it could be okay.
But it seems more likely to turn into "create another generation locked into proprietary tools". And instead of teaching (a) CS theory and (b) machine architecture so that people can understand things independent of any particular language or tools, we'll turn it into another "memorize and regurgitate" exercise, where kids will forget everything just after the class because they never really understood it to begin with.
We desperately need more tech literacy, so that people can make good decisions about the products and services they use and buy, and so that they can be competent to handle non-dumbed-down computing. But I will eat my hat if this turns into anything more than a form of advertising for Microsoft/Google/Apple. Already i see this with movements to get kids hooked on Google Docs, getting them used to the idea that all their data should be given to an advertizing company for safe keeping.
skills that are practically useful in life, such as
1. Self reliance (how to cook, how to do minor repair works around house, etc)
2. Think broadly (do projects that encompasses everything from planning, prototyping, executing, teamwork etc.)
3. Financial management
4. Driving (it is better to start young, see Finland)
5. Surviving outdoors (you never know when you gonna need it)
6. Interacting face-to-face
7. Objective thinking (so that they won't fall into sound-bites of politicians)
I do not foresee "coding" will help anyone in the broader spectrum. Perhaps, it can liberate few talented coders who would've gone to another field. Other than you enter into an STEM career; quite unlikely "coding" will help you survive.
Something peripheral: "coding" projects will only succeed because of other skills i.e planning, team work, communication etc; not because of your "coding" skills it self.
Education is about learning to learn and making citizens.
That means learning to think and having enough basics so you don't have to start with the stone age to learn something new.
Reading, writing, and arithmetic are the first on the list.
Self study/research skills, higher math, literature, and basic science are second.
Computer programming seems a vocational skill, might be third at best, but there are many other directions to choose at his level.
The citizenship part is about fitting into the world we live in.
History teaches us how things got to be the way they are.
Government teaches us what tools are in place to adjust them.
These seem necessary to have a functional society, which puts them on par with the second level stuff above.
To add yet another tertiary thing to the first priority list diminishes the things that need to be there.
It gives the education system an excuse for not doing what needs to get done.
It limits our ability to compete with other nations that better understand the role of education.
This is bad for all, but apparently still permits the folks it shapes to fit in.
Given this, the Congress seems a not-so-shining example.
By pandering to a minority of corporations, the Dpt. of Ed. is converting the US education system into a training programmes for idiot workers in dead-end jobs that'll soon be off-shored to subcontractors in developing countries with lower operating costs. The real advantage that the USA has is an excellent education system* that cultivates independent, critical, and creative thinkers who can then go on to learn just about anything they want and make excellent team-workers, project managers, and problem solvers.
*If you control for poverty, which is the biggest issue in US educational outcomes, the US consistently scores at the top of international tables but doesn't suffer as much from the negative effects of test-oriented curricula, despite the Dpt. of Ed.'s best efforts in the last decade or so.
The idea that you can even teach coding in classrooms where students continue to fail basic literacy, let alone mathematics, is absurd. Fix the core curriculum first before adding more certain failure.