To Code or Not to Code

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My Opinion Stands

In reading the two articles, Kids Need To Learn Digital Literacy-Not How To Code, (Larson, 2014) and Code Literacy: A 21^st-Century Requirement (Rushkoff, 2012) my opinion stands with no, we do not need to teach our students how to code. What we do need to teach ALL of our students is the importance of how to work with technology and the important difference between learning to code and learning about code. (Larson, 2014). The analogy used comparing the care and maintenance of a car as opposed to rebuilding the transmission as a requirement to learning how to drive is very relevant to coding and learning technology today.

Mitch Resnick’s TED Talk (Resnick, n.d.) explained that being able to express yourself with technology is fluency. He equates browsing, texting, and gaming as being able to read but not write. Coding in this sense should be incorporated into our classes for engaging projects to draw on prior knowledge and enforce learned content. 

The California Common Core State Standards for writing grades 6-12 define four areas that students should understand and be able to do. They are text types and purposes, production and distribution of writing, research to build and present knowledge, and range of writing. (Kirst et al., 2010). I list these as a small sampling of the standards to relate back to my recommendation above stating that coding can and should be used to reinforce prior/learned knowledge.

What we do need to teach our students is the basic technology skills to understand the devices, software and communication we produce with (not just use) daily. Computer Science courses that encompass these skills and include Web Development, coding and more should become core curriculum rather than infused electives.

Lastly, I would like to qualify my opinion with my many years of experience as a network specialist and CTE instructor of computer repair and networking certification tracks and a technology support and trainer of staff and teachers. We do not need to learn to code, we need to learn drive and maintain the car.

Kirst, M. W., Straus, I., President, V., Burr, S., Cohn, C. A., Holaday, B., … Williams Jack, J. O. (2010). California Common Core State Standards English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/finalelaccssstandards.pdf

Larson, S. (2014). Kids Need To Learn Digital Literacy—Not How To Code - ReadWrite. Retrieved April 24, 2017, from http://readwrite.com/2014/09/08/learn-to-code-digital-literacy/

Resnick, M. (n.d.). Let’s teach kids to code. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok6LbV6bqaE&t=27s