Anthony Walton
ERH-102
Ms. Miller
2/26/16
Exploratory Essay
Digital technology has been and will continue to be a huge part of life. A huge part to making all the technology work for commercial, personal, and business use would be the programming that goes into programs and software. The programs and software can’t be simply programmed nor does it take just basic knowledge to write these programs. It takes months and even years to write the most basic programs designed to do the most basic tasks. Computer programming is becoming such an important part of life, and even the US government is trying to get involved by requiring schools to teach this unique skill to children as if it was as important as the English language. The President, Obama, even passed a bill which would put 4 billion more dollars into school systems supplying them with technology needed to teach students more about computer science, which includes programming. The field of study continues to quickly grow as well.
The reason I show much interest in computer programming is because I personally want to be a programmer in the future. I not only see it as a great problem solving job that generates large sums of money, but I also see it as a job necessary to sustain the future capabilities of technology. Computer programming also seems to be one of the most in demand fields in the US right now, so it does seem to be an appealing topic.
Computer programming once began as a small subject, but is growing like a wildfire. Computers are becoming more relevant in the real world than a simple pen and paper. Programmers are one of the few people that are involved in making those programs run, and run efficiently. Programming is an irreplaceable job and skill that everybody needs to have basic knowledge of. When do we start teaching computer programming to students in the classroom?
The first source I decided to use is an article on a site named edutopia. “Edutopia is a site dedicated to innovation in the school systems from K-12. It was also founded by filmmaker George Lucas, who is very renowned in the filmmaking business” (About Us). The person in particular who wrote the article is Matt Harrell, is the “founder of Memberhub.com as well as the technology chair in the PTA board” (Matt Harrell). Based on the information given to me about Harrell he seems to be very passionate about putting better technology into the classroom as well as innovating it as much as possible. The one complaint of this article is the idea that it is fairly biased. The article was published on a website designed for innovating classrooms around the US, so none of the opposing arguments will be heard.
Harrell’s article begins explaining that students need to learn how technology works to get a better understanding of it and realize technology isn’t just a toy. He argues that a programming class should be implemented in all school systems immediately. Harrell quickly jumps into the benefits of implementing a programming class regardless if they student grows up to be a computer programmer or not. The benefits of the class would include “logical thinking, problem solving, persistence, collaboration, and communication” (Harrell). Another important factor of the coding class would be that the elementary students do enjoy the class. He organizes the “Hour of Code at his children’s school, and the week dedicated to computer programming generates a lot of excitement for the children” (Harrell). Overall, Harrell’s article effectively displays the idea that elementary students enjoy learning more of computer programming, and they have the potential to learn.
I do believe most of what Harrell said in his arguments for two main reasons which are he had a personal experience to fortify his arguments, and I myself have seen the benefits of a coding class. The benefits that I have personally experienced while in coding classes would include problem solving, collaboration, and communication. Those three traits are instilled into a programmer because they are necessary for a programmer to be successful. Harrell also has a personal experience to prove that elementary children are excited about coding classes and would be open to a full time coding class. Another positive of this article is the top level domain is a .org instead of a .com, which makes it seem as a more credible source. The main concern of the article would be the bias that is in it. Harrell is pushing for more innovation in the classroom, and the website he wrote for is doing the same, so it’s hard to see the negative aspects of putting a coding class into elementary school. Overall, the source is appropriate and credible.
This source gives me one of the many stances that can be taken on when students should start taking coding classes. A lot of information in the article is valuable especially recognizing that the students want to learn in a coding class. Another piece of information that is very valuable are the skills that come with a coding class especially when it comes to working with peers. The one thing missing from the article would be the negative results of putting all this technology into an elementary school. There are always positive and negative consequences, so the next step from here will be to try and find another view on when a coding class would be appropriate for students, and to find the negative consequences of putting technology into a classroom.
The next source is an article from the New York Times written by John C. Dvorak. He is a “well-known columnist who has written for an endless amount of papers or companies including Forbes, Forbes Digital, PC World, and many others” (John C. Dvorak). He has “won multiple awards and hosts his own video talk show” (John C. Dvorak). Looking at his accomplishments he seems to be a very respectable source. The article he wrote seems to be biased just like my first article, but in the opposite direction of Harrell. The article is a great one to read directly after the first article, because it gives two of the extreme views that an be taken when it comes to implementing a coding class at school in general.
The article written by Dvorak seems to be more of a very passionate and negative article on the idea of coding classes in school in general. He explains that children “don’t need to sit in front of a computer screen to build positive characteristics, they need to interact and be involved with their fellow peers” (Dvorak). He also explains that ever since the “use of technology has increased in schools, scores in testing have declined” (Dvorak). His article is more of an attack on the concept of more technology in schools and a coding class in schools.
Dvorak does have some good points, there are at times in computer classes where students are required to sit in front of a computer screen with no collaboration with peers at all. This is where negative effects can take place which the first article did not explain. He also states a fact that makes the idea of using technology in schools a negative thing, even though technology in school can be a huge part in helping students. I to an extent disagree with his comment that there is no collaboration between students when in a coding class. I have been in multiple coding classes and in each class I have been required to collaborate with a partner to solve a problem. I can not disagree with his point that test scores have declined since technology has become widespread in the classroom. That is a hard fact that can not be disputed. This article shows the negative aspects of a programming class that the first article does not show. Combining these two articles can create a good agreement between the two to have a better conclusion to the question at hand.
Reading the first two articles has given me a good idea of the positive and negative outcomes of a programming class in namely elementary school. Both authors also had different approaches to the writing. Harrell was more enthusiastic with his tone and seemed to only be positive. Dvorak on the other hand attacked what Harrell believed in and used a more disgusted tone and was only negative. In my opinion the more appealing form of writing is positive writing because it shows the author is passionate about what they believe in not what they hate. After this research I have seen both views and seen why they believe it, now I would like to see the logistical reasons for implementing more or less technology in the classroom. I would like to see which idea is more practical in the end for the students and the schools.
The overall cost of putting this technology required for a coding class would be fairly expensive. To provide all students in America with a piece of technology that can connect to the internet it would cost “billions of dollars” (). This investment wouldn’t even include the training required to inform the teachers of the new technologies implemented in the classroom. This investment would still leave a lot of work to do in order to implement and maintain a programming class for elementary schools. Another impact that needs to be considered is the amount of money already spent on education from the federal government. The federal government already has a “2.3 billion dollar program e-rate program, which subsidizes telecommunications spending by schools and libraries” (). Taking some money from this program and putting it towards making a coding class every year would be one of many efficient ideas. Overall, the logistics that goes into supplying this much technology goes much further than my knowledge as well as many other’s knowledge
So, when should programming be taught to students? After researching the topic and learning more and more about the effects of a programming class my view on it has changed. I still have a lot more to learn before coming to a final conclusion on when programming should be taught, but I believe at this point sometime in elementary school would be the best option. This choice is still cloudy in my opinion but based on the small portion of research I have done I can take a slight approach on the question at hand. Based on the research I’ve done thus far, it seems that a programming class in elementary school would develop children in not only the programming world, but also in traits that are helpful in the real world, such as the ability to collaborate. If I were to do more research on the topic I would definitely look at the final cost of updated technology as well as psychological effects on the children from using this technology that often.
Works Cited
“About Us.” Edutopia. George Lucas Educational Foundation, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
“Matt Harrell.” Edutopia. George Lucas Educational Foundation, 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
Harrell, Matt. “Add Coding to Your Elementary Curriculum. . . Right Now.” Edutopia. George
Lucas Educational Foundation, 17 Mar. 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
Dvorak, John C. “Teaching Coding to Kids Is a Scam.” Nytimes. New York Times Company, 12
May 2014. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
“John C. Dvorak.” Author Bio. Ziff Davis, LLC. PCMag Digital Group, n.d. Web. 25 Feb.
2016.
Garland, Sarah. “How Can Schools Close the Technology Gap and How Much Will It Cost? –
The Hechinger Report.” The Hechinger Report How Can Schools Close the Technology Gap and How Much Will It Cost Comments. Teachers College at Columbia University, 14 May 2014. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.