As GeekDads we are probably more aware than others of the increasing interest from parents, schools and businesses of teaching kids to code. Indeed, politicians, rappers, and even NBA basketballers are all urging kids to do it.
Whether you agree or not, the ability to understand basic logic programming has become for many people a priority as we head deeper into the digital age. Every era demands–and rewards–different skills. In different times and different places, we have taught our children to grow vegetables, build a house, forge a sword or blow a delicate glass, bake bread, create a soufflé, write a story or shoot hoops. Now we are teaching them to code.
But, like all new, ideas finding your way through the different tools and options available to help children to code is difficult–from mobile app options to weekly online tutorials or self-paced, self-directed options. Beyond a Google search how do you find them and how do you know which is any good?
Well, to help you get caught up, EdSurge, the source for the latest news and trends on education technology, has put out its first guide: “Teaching Kids to Code.” The team has compiled a collection of 40 popular online tools for learning programming, organized according to different learning objectives (coding logic, visual blocks, hardware programming, specific languages). They have also assembled a list of coding camps for kids (in case you’re still wondering where to send them this summer).
In addition, they share perspectives from luminaries at the forefront of the coding renaissance, including:
- MIT Media Lab’s Mitch Resnick offers his thoughts on why learning to code is like learning to learn, and shares what’s new in Scratch 2.0
- CodeHS co-founder, Jeremy Keeshin, reflects on his current cross-country road trip to teach computer science in middle and high schools.
- Sheena Vaidyanathan, a computer science teacher in Los Altos, CA, shares highlights from a recent coding showcase of over 500 sixth-graders across seven schools in her district
This is exactly the type of resource that we need in an education space that is saturated with so many options. It is great to see that people who get all the press releases and news about the latest and greatest tools are putting together a resource that shares this information with the rest of us in an easy to digest manner.
