Recently, there has been a lot of buzz around the education and tech communities regarding a recent video released by code.org. In the video, various people ranging from Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates to NBA star Chris Bosh and pop star Will.I.Am all promote the idea of teaching computer programming to everyone. And I dont mean people interested in computers.
Everyone.
This includes young children and there may be a number of useful nuggets that come out of it in regards to education. However, the one essential nugget that everyone should understand is this:
we should not teach our children how to code for coding's sake. We shouldn't teach our children how to code because computer programming is the most demanded profession in the country. We should teach our children how to code for the cognitive development of their minds. We don't teach children math or how to read just so that they know how to crunch numbers; we teach them these skills with the end result of creating better thinkers in mind. Computer programming can do just that. It can help develop computational skills in young children. It can teach the basics of logic and algorithms. It can develop better problem solving skills. The list goes on and on.
In addition to developing their minds, teaching code will force children to learn how much of the amazing technology of our day truly works. Many of our children can pick up how to use the Internet, video conference with friends, and operate an iPhone fairly quickly (for example, before my daughter turned 3, she knew how to unlock my iPhone, find the games folder, choose a game and play it. If I moved the game, she would still find it and play it). However, many of our children do not understand how this technology actually works, and this is entirely more important than knowing how to use it itself. It's akin to not only knowing how to use a toilet, but fixing one (this skill in itself can save a person a world of trouble).
Teaching children to learn how to code has the potential to create an army of powerful and efficient thinkers in our society. However, lets be careful to not make the end result of this initiative simply more programmers or more code. Lets make the end result more efficient problem solvers.
