A look at how "one size fits all" coding education programs are hurting students and schools, and what teachers can do to provide authentic technology instruction in their schools.
6. “They” want us to teach coding! Hurry!
Code.org (Blockly)
● No syntax - visual
programming editor
● Motivational videos
● Code Studio curriculum
● Fundamental
programming concepts
and algorithms
7. Great, I taught coding! Except...
● Instructional method not as appealing to girls
as to boys
● Eliminates teachers from teaching
● “Where did the maze come from?”
● Attempts to frame value of coding around
money, start-up culture
8. “They” want us to teach coding! Hurry!
Codecademy
● Courses in many languages
● Short modules on different
topics within each course
● Learning per se
● Single correct answers to
course sections
● Offers “sandbox” for
advanced members
9. Great, I taught coding! Except...
● No context: “Why are we doing this?”
● Does not explicitly teach algorithmic thinking
● Instructional method alienates girls
● Compartmentalized, linear learning
● Eliminates teacher from teaching
18. Authentic Instruction - What is it?
Problem-Based Learning
● Contextualized within real, relevant topics
● Open-ended - students determine what they need to know
in order to accomplish given goal
● Culminates in an interdisciplinary
project and publication
● Student-directed and completed in
cooperative teams
● Appealing to multiple learning styles
19. Authentic Instruction - What is it?
Problem Based Learning
● Greater than AND the sum of its parts*
o Students construct understanding of computer science
concepts through hands-on exploration
o Teacher provides explicit instruction
● Harder!
o Teacher must anticipate and troubleshoot unique bugs
o Classroom space feels chaotic
20. Authentic Instruction - How Does It Help?
● Students solve problems as a cooperative team
● Students independently manage project priorities and
deadlines
● All students given opportunity to act as leaders and peer
educators
● Teacher is a co-learner and active participant, not an
arbitrary authority
● Whole class actively participates and finds authentic
value in learning
21. Democracy Matters
We teachers have done our jobs if we have prepared our
students to take initiative, resolve problems effectively and
independently, and respect others regardless of perceived
status.
Coding is not the only way to do this. But it is one way.
22. If You Want to Know More...
ISTE - International Society for Technology in Education
BIE - Buck Institute for Education and Project-Based
Learning
Diane Ravitch - Research Professor of Education at NYU
and Education Historian
NCWIT - National Center for Women & Information
Technology
Generation STEM - Study on girls and STEM by Girl
Scouts of America
23. Bibliography
Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Educational Leadership, Nov. 2004.
Margolis, Jane, Allan Fischer, and Faye Miller. “Caring About Connections: Gender and Computing.”
Carnegie Mellon University, n.d. Web. 20 April 2015.
Modi, Komal, Ph.D., Judy Schoenburg, Ed.M., and Kimberly Salmond, M.P.P. Generation STEM:
What Girls Say about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Rep. N.p.: Girl Scouts of
America Research Institute, 2012. Print.
Ravitch, Diane. Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms. New York: Simon and Schuster,
2000. Print.
Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice
are Undermining Education. New York: Basic Books, 2010. Print.
Sax, Leanoard (2005). Why Gender Matters. New York: Broadway Books
Hinweis der Redaktion
Tend to compartmentalize new information
Can more easily interpret symbolic and pictorial representations
Enjoy physical and spatial tasks, especially building
Learn computer science for its own sake
Girls
Large corpus callosum, more “cross-talk” between hemispheres
Driven toward complex, stimulating, multi-sensorymental activities
Stress desire to improve social condition, helpothers
Context matters
Keyboarding Practice
Microsoft Office Suite
Internet Safety/ Cyber Bullying
Evaluating Internet Sources
File Management
Code.org -- Hadi Partovi
Codecademy - Zach Sims and Ryan Bubinski
CodeHS - Jeremy Keeshin and Zach Galant
Can be used as a part of a more effective instructional unit, but when applied as “stand alone” projects they fall short
Takes autonomy away from teachers
Reinforces top-down authority, silence, and effectively creates discipline problems
Makes bedfellows between private companies and public schools (we have quite enough of that, thanks)a
Professionals work in teams comprised of back-end developers, designers, and programmers to develop products/services for clients who have multiple needs who in turn are responding to consumers/users
Computer programming is integrated into virtually every discipline
CODING IS A DEMOCRATIC PROCESS. The programming team is centered around the standards in place and the central goal of the program they’re developing, not the whims of their boss → There is resistance to this idea right now but let’s face it, it’s where we’re heading.
Example Project:Create an app for community organization: visual coding editor, but requires interviews with clients/research
Write a “choose your own adventure” story and turn it into a game to teach algorithmic thinking