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The rationale for this rapid curricular renovation is economic. Teaching kids how to code will help them land good jobs, the argument goes. In an era of flat and falling incomes, programming provides a new path to the middle class – a skill so widely demanded that anyone who acquires it can command a livable, even lucrative, wage.
This narrative pervades policymaking at every level, from school boards to the government. Yet it rests on a fundamentally flawed premise. Contrary to public perception, the economy doesn't actually need that many more programmers. As a result, teaching millions of kids to code won't make them all middle-class. Rather, it will proletarianize the profession by flooding the market and forcing wages down – and that's precisely the point.
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Sunday September 24 2017, @07:20PM (1 child)
I did not mention intelligence because it has little to do with coding in the context of technological literacy. Most jobs can still be done without coding -- for now. But if you can code at least a little, you can really use the computer as a multiplier for what intelligence and experience you actually do have. It's an extension but not a mechanical one rather one of intellect -- however little or much you start with, a computer when used correctly will effectively give you more. As the late Steve Jobs put it the computer is like a bicycle for the mind. Or at least it coud be...
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Monday September 25 2017, @02:01PM
That isn't enough. I have a few colleagues that can bang a couple bits together to make their own version of solitaire, but they don't have the creativity to apply that to their daily tasks to make their job easier. I once proposed taking a couple of weeks to make a database, GUI, and PDF generation to do 90% of the spare part & maintenance activity lookup stuff we have to do for our customers and salesmen (mostly data entry and relationship modeling). I was told no, because somebody from marketing might do that in a year to two--but no guaranties. But if I do decide to make it, build it as an excel macro. Okay, so I'm dealing with not only a lack of creativity at work, but also unfounded optimism, willful ignorance, and benign spite.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base