Check this link for a thorough description of the problem facing our students now:  http://www.computinginthecore.org/issues-solutions.

Basically, the United States is WAY behind in the field of Computer Science education, which happens to be the field that opens most doors in terms of finding work in the 21st Century.  As the above link describes, “No other subject will open as many doors in the 21st Century, regardless of a student’s ultimate field of study or occupation, as computer science.”

While some schools do teach basic computer skills, they lack the conceptual depth of instruction that is valued in the work place.  This is the gap that we fill.  We focus on computational thinking, advanced problem solving, and using logic to solve problems with unclear solutions and many possible outcomes, just the way actual problems in the real world usually function.

We have quoted Carnegie Melon’s computer science department below to provide a more complete definition of Computational Thinking.  Their site link is here:  http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~CompThink/

“Computational thinking is a way of solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior that draws on concepts fundamental to computer science. To flourish in today’s world, computational thinking has to be a fundamental part of the way people think and understand the world.

Computational thinking means creating and making use of different levels ofabstraction, to understand and solve problems more effectively.

Computational thinking means thinking algorithmically and with the ability to apply mathematical concepts such as induction to develop more efficient, fair, and secure solutions.

Computational thinking means understanding the consequences of scale, not only for reasons of efficiency but also for economic and social reasons.”