Whenever I see computer science compared to literacy, I have to kind of laugh. Being able to program will never be as important as the ability to read. While a basic understanding of coding could be very helpful, I don’t think it is even close to the same level as being able to read.
The biggest issues I have with the computer science for all movement is that it will subtract from somewhere else. Students already have tons of different subjects to learn about that I think are very important. There are some that I think could have less emphasis (I was never good at art), but in general, I think that most of the subjects that are taught are the right ones to teach and should continue.
This issue I think eliminates have too many computer science classes in high school and early on, but does not eliminate the idea of having an intro to computer science class to at least teach the basics. I think learning the basics of computer science could have really helped me when heading into college and have helped me pick my career path better. I am not the best programmer, but I think a quick computer science intro could have really helped me be better and understand the field more when heading here.
I think that the basics could really help but not much more than that should be taught in high school. One of the problems with comp sci is the lack of teachers. Teachers will never get paid as much as engineers in the industry. Since you need quite a bit of understanding to teach a complex subject like computer science to beginners, I think there will always be a lack of eligible teachers especially for the basics in high school.
I think a basic computer science class as a requirement makes sense in high school if you have the teachers to do so. I think it should be added in addition to everything else. While this puts more pressure on students, it is just one more class and I think the students will be able to survive. I think the class should mostly just be the basics in programming as well as a tiny bit of logic. I don’t think it needs to concentrate too heavily on any one part and should try and be fun for the students.
Before reading the articles I thought that anyone could do programming. I would love to see more of the analysis that says some students can’t code at all. I think that all students are capable of doing at least basic coding and while not everyone might be able to be really good, I think they can learn enough to get by. There is a big difference from being able to write extremely complex programs and learning the basics, but I think that having some amount of the basics would be good. I personally would only say that I have a grasp of the basics, but I think that it will be enough to serve me after I graduate since I don’t plan to code for a living. I learned a lot from my computer science education, but I do think it would be good if possible to have some exposure to it at an earlier time.
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