Computer Programming In Primary And Secondary Education.

Computer Science is critical for developing programming knowledge, digital literacy, and improving students’ problem solving skills. Teaching kids how to program exposes them to a field that they otherwise wouldn’t have even considered. The problem with teaching programming in K-12 schools is the lack of faculty. In fact, maybe one in ten American high schools have a Computer Science teacher. The number is even lower for schools serving grades 1-6 (Guzdial 1). The states that already require Computer Science as a high school graduation requirement can complete the class by learning how to use CAD or Photoshop. This is due to teacher not being qualified enough to teach real Computer Science. Raising the standards of preexisting Computer Science classes would be problematic in that sense (Guzdial 1). There is also no set, clear curriculum to teach Computer Science in high school. Because of this, it would be hard to teach it to special needs students (Guzdial 1).

Imagine you are applying for a big job. It is the job you have always wanted, but then you find out that your favorite job requires a partial knowledge of coding. Why were you not taught that in school? There is a big debate going on whether or not coding should be taught in schools. According to the article, Teaching Children to Code: Overview, “Also known as “computer programming,” coding is the process of writing instructions for a computer using a specialized programming language” (Crelin). Kids need this skill, but are not getting exposure to it. Coding should be taught in schools because of the great benefits it has.

Computers and technological devices have been heavily used in millions of elementary classrooms throughout the world. While many people believe this is a beneficial thing some think it is taking over the traditional ways of learning and damaging their social interaction. All the colors and sounds on the screen attract children and make them think that what they are learning is fun and enjoyable. Using computers in the classroom is very beneficial, but it should not be replacing traditional ways of education. As Elizabeth Bohnhorst, author of Floppy Disk Fallacies, stated “…computers are being used more and more frequently as a substitute for books, blackboards, and in some cases, the teachers themselves (251-252)”. Students will soon not have the need to bring pencils, paper, and even a backpack to class because everybody will be using computers as a means of learning. Moreover, computers should be used only as a tool to assist learners and make certain tasks accomplishable more efficiently while also keeping traditional ways of learning.

Technology is becoming a bigger part of this world every day, and programmers are needed for every bit of it. Anything that is at all electric involves programming. Someone has to program the street lights to run at certain times. Someone has to program your phone and all of the applications on it. Someone has to program the computer that you’re reading this off of. Programmers are essential to everyday life, and without them, there would be no working technology.

3. Write assignment statements that perform the following operations with the variables a, b, and c.

I have always had a passionate interest in technology, from the very first time I was introduced to a rapidly-growing phenomenon called coding. It both fascinated and perplexed me; numbers and letters, pixels on a shiny screen, amalgamating together to produce something awe-inspiring. Therefore, it was perhaps to be expected that I would sign up to be a member of my local Girls Who Code club in the beginning of my eighth grade year.

Gillian Goodman’s article “A Girl Who Codes” attempts to spread awareness of importance of Computer Science among girls. The author condemns the less involvement of women in the growing field of Computer Science and advocates that women should also start coding instead of inclining towards streams that don’t pay well. In the beginning of the article, she introduces Nikita Rau who started ‘XX Hackers’, a high club for girls interested in learning Computer Science. Then, gradually Goodman expresses her dissatisfaction with the performance of women in Computer Science industry. She talks about various factors about this situation and steps that are being taken to improve it. She tries to convince women to join Computer Science industry because of its immense growth potential and promote more initiatives like ‘Girls Who Code’ throughout the country.

In the article "Can Students Have Too Much Tech?" Susan Pinker explains the pros and cons of technology in the classroom. Her argument is supplemented by Studies from Duke University and Stanford University. She also utilized the history of the One Laptop per child nonprofit, along with her own research and opinions.

Computers are the foundation of instructional technology but despite their many uses and importance in nearly every workplace many schools have poor funding for technology. Kids who are in schools that don’t have adequate tech funding end up behind their peers, and their lack of computer skills can affect everything from their ability to research for academic projects to their ability to enter STEM related jobs and programs.

Our students are technology natives, and expect the learning environment to utilize the same technology they are so comfortable with outside of the school. Current career studies indicate that by the time today’s 1st graders graduate, there will be a shortage of over 1 million people who will be needed in writing computer code and designing computer programs. I facilitated the HOUR of CODE program at both the middle school and elementary. This program is supported by leaders in the technology industry. It is a wonderful program that uses popular computer games to teach students how to write computer code.

Thanks to my current school, I have grown to adore computer science. Unlike many other subjects in school, such as biology or world history, there is no need to memorize facts. Instead, it is a language that almost any person can learn - well, at least the basics. It is similar to learning a language, but, unlike languages such as Spanish or Chinese, there is no weird grammar that makes absolutely no sense that are considered to be "exceptions." Programming languages use logic, making it easy to learn and to

In the first of class of IDS 190, Dr. James Lu explained to us that we would explore in this course on one inquiry: is learning computer science important to our life?

In order to get my point across of the need of more women in Computer Science, the best group to present my solution to is towards the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. In addition, the school district is great in order to keep it to a local community and present the need to involve all schools to promote some computer related course for all students. This is important because according to a research by the University of Washington, “children express the stereotype that mathematics is for boys, not for girls, as early as second grade” (McElroy 2011). The typical age for the second grade is seven years old and to think that seven years olds already have the mindset of stereotyping at such a young age is astonishing. Consequently, mathematics are very important to Computer Science and at early ages of stereotypes, this would certainly not help the outcome of women in computer-related degrees for the future.

Being proficient in using technology will be a prerequisite for almost any employment for younger students. It is the school’s job to prepare many of these kids for employment, and that is especially true for the lower socioeconomic areas where students with computers at home are rare. Eisenberg and Johnson describe this basic skills education as the “laundry list” approach to computer education. By ‘list” they mean isolated skills, such as word processing, or searching the Internet. “Students need to be able to use computers and other technology flexibly, creatively and purposefully. All learners should be able to recognize what they need to accomplish, determine whether a computer will help them to do so, and then be able to use the computer as part of the process of accomplishing their task.”1

The benefits of computer science can be minor, and it also can be huge. On the minor side, we can search anything on a computer today, without even having to step outside. For example, if we are looking for some resources for our research paper, we can easily check online libraries instead of flipping through pages from different books at a physical library we had to travel to. It seems to have become fashionable nowadays to write naysayer articles about how popular efforts to expand computer science educations are waste of time. [1]. Computer science is the major key for the establishment of data base for most companies now, and even majority of the companies are running based on computer systems. Computer science plays an important role in the field of education as well. Computer Science is much more than learning to code, and its benefits go beyond knowing a particular programming language. [2]. Most