
B.C. to add computer coding to school curriculum - tempestn
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/bc-government-adds-computer-coding-to-school-curriculum/article28234097/
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tempestn
The focus on job skills is a bit unfortunate IMO, but I guess that's what you
need to get people behind a change. Also I don't know if "coding" is what we
want to emphasize, since the actual coding is really a minor component of
programming. It's possible that's just the journalist, but I could also see
them taking the easy root of actually putting all the focus on the coding
side. I'm hopeful though since it also talks about starting with
"computational thinking" and such in kindergarten and only getting to actual
coding later.

Regardless, it's going to be difficult to pull off well, since presumably not
many current teachers have great coding skills. Even logical reasoning might
be difficult, since it really hasn't been emphasized in the past. If they're
just trying to teach the concepts out of a curriculum book without
understanding them, it could actually turn kinds _off_ of CS. Still, it's good
to see the BC government recognizing the importance of computer science and
logical (presumably what they mean by "computational") thinking.

