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Don't Learn to Code; Learn to Think

posted by azrael on Saturday July 05 2014, @03:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the you-can-only-choose-one dept.

AnonTechie writes:

It seems like everyone is trying to learn to code: Code.org has celebrities like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Chris Bosh telling you anyone can code; CoderDojo's are springing up all over the country; the UK has made it part of their official curriculum for all grade school kids.

I think this is slightly misguided. Don't get me wrong - I do think the world would be better off if everyone had some familiarity with coding - but coding itself should not be the goal. Computers and programming are just tools. They are a means to an end. The real goal should be to teach people a new way to think. In other words, we should be trying to teach computer science and not just coding. In this blog post, inspired by Simon Peyton Jones' wonderful TED talk Teaching Creative Computer Science, I'll explain the difference between the two, and why focusing on the right one is critical for the movement to succeed.

 
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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 05 2014, @04:08PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 05 2014, @04:08PM (#64558)

    Did Simon Peyton learn to go the gym? Thoze shoulders are so slumped.

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