Coding is becoming an increasingly essential skill to have in this economy that relies more and more on technology. According to Iowa Public Radio, there are schools who consider coding so important that they’re teaching it to their kindergarteners. Iowa Public Radio’s Amy Mayer details this in a new article titled “Computer Coding Complements Common Core.”
Mayer writes, “Denise Crawford directs the Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching at Iowa State. She says these educational goals are part of the common core, even if coding per se is not. Teaching kids programming isn’t new, but Crawford says it’s easier than ever because the technologies are more user friendly, even for younger kids. And programming can sometimes click with a student who doesn’t shine in other academic areas. ‘In coding, we’re going to require students to think different than how we typically maybe are asking them to think during the school day,’ Crawford says. And she says that can have a profound impact. ‘This one spark, what if this hits with one student that otherwise wouldn’t have academically been interested in something like that? It seems worth it.’ From kindergarten to fifth grade, the students get another benefit of the coding sessions. They are encouraged to collaborate, and that means students learning from their peers.”
While schools are focusing more attention on coding, others are finding new ways to encourage kids to practice coding recreationally. According to The Next Web, BBC is updating its Doctor Who inspired online coding game, The Doctor and the Dalek. Abhimanyu Ghoshal of The Next Web writes, “The BBC has updated its online game The Doctor and the Dalek with four new levels, and is launching free iPad and Android tablet versions of the Doctor Who-themed title… The Doctor will need several new abilities to overcome his enemies in the new levels, which can be unlocked by solving a series of coding puzzles, linked to the new computing curriculum in the UK. These focus on Boolean logic, introducing ‘if’ statements with a range of variables that gradually increase in complexity as users become more advanced.”
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