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Our middle school has a Robotics program. They start in 6 grade. By 7th and 8th grade they compete with other schools. I know that the school takes the students to UCSB for a competition with other middle schools.
In our area the three middle schools each have a different focus. Students can apply to the school of their choosing and pick a program of interest. The school my two youngest attend has robotics, Engineering, and Environmental Science. When the students enter high school they can choose one of the seven area high schools for specific programs, including Robotics. Each of the schools have programs designed to prepare the students for fields within the discipline that they choose.
Someone mentioned auto mechanics. One of the high schools has a 4 year internship program. At the end of the four years the student is ASE certified. A friend runs that program and every year the school restores a car and sends it to auction.
By the time today's elementary school students graduate from high school, there will be no demand for coders or robotics/automation designers since AIs will be doing that faster and more efficiently than humans.
By the time today's elementary school students graduate from high school, there will be no demand for coders or robotics/automation designers since AIs will be doing that faster and more efficiently than humans.
Maybe, that is why kids that actually find it interesting NOW should do it and not all kids with some expectations of finding JOBS 15 years from now.
But AI is BS and it is only Simulated Intelligence. Trying to get things to manipulate reality will be more complex than Chess and Go.
If your self driving car stops for an animal on the road, should it roll up the windows because it is a bear and not a dear? Can it tell the difference?
Basic computer literacy (PowerPoint, word, some excel, etc) is now standard in many schools some starting as early as the 4th grade. .
Teaching MS stuff is like teaching how to run a horse and buggy. It was even so a decade or more ago.
I guess if one desires to be a Secretary in an office that uses MS it is OK, but is has ZERO to do with computers, programming, the internet and most of the skills needed to move forward today.
Maybe google docs...as ONE small part of the use of google....Wow, MS must have done a job on brainwashing the admin of schools (free software, etc) to get these ancient skills taught.
I have been a computer consultant, web developer (large sites. millions of visitors), inventor, importer, etc. or decades and haven't used those programs in as long as I remember.
Typing and automechanics were 2 of the most practical high school subjects ever. Even if you don't even change your tires, it's good to have some vague idea what your mechanic is telling you is wrong with your car. You'd be surprised at how many mechanics see a woman and make up all kinds of crap.
Everyone here is missing the point. The point is to teach computer science foundations, not make everyone become programmers or coders. If you have to do that by teaching the latest language or using games, so be it. When you learned how to play the recorder in 3rd grade, the purpose wasn't to make everyone become the greatest recorder players ever. What is there to be gained from studying geometry?
Learning to code is solving puzzles. It teaches you to think . It's not mundane repetition. It provides life long problem solving skills much the way music develops the brain. Even if you learned Fortran 40 years ago, it will be much easier for you to pick up JavaScript now than someone who never learned Fortran at all. The syntax changes, but the concepts do not. If you have only studied Spanish and then decide later in life to learn Italian or French, it's not that hard. We all know now that it's easier to learn a new skill when you are younger rather than when you are older because of recent neuroscience studies.
When computers were bit simpler, it was worth it to know how they worked. Saved some money by replacing your own motherboard instead of bringing it into the shop just like some people fix their own cars. Today, no. Computers have become more disposable and you end up just replacing it. But that's hardware, not software. All I'm advocating is that everyone should learn the basics. Technology is here to stay. If you missed out on it when you were growing up, you don't understand what you may have missed and you will probably not be around by the time everyone already knows it and uses it like learning to read.
I don't know if this has changed, but I am amused how they never really had any formal courses, or at least spent one day's of class to at least talk about finances... credit cards, saving, writing checks, basic bank account stuff. At least parents were proactive enough when giving their kids credit cards that YOU NEED TO PAY BACK THE MONEY YOU SPENT! TREAT IT LIKE CASH! Use it for necessities like in emergencies, buying textbooks, or car repairs/taking the bus to the ol college campus.
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As for your post, I agree with it, except I'll add the caveat that the OP suggested courses in programming robots. That's a bit TOO specific. I don't know if there are THAT MANY positions for programming robots. Then again, while app developers are still in demand, they've also taken a hit now that a lot more people are doing it vs. say, even 5 years ago.
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Basics are fine and dandy. I enjoyed learning how to sew (unsuccessfully), basic shop class (wood and metalworking), how assembly lines work (related to shop), how to bake cookies, how to use the oven in general, operating a microwave oven, how to use a computer mouse and keyboard (like function keys, drag and drop, double click), basic computer knowledge (Mac and Windows, bits, bytes, CPU, RAM, hardrive), word processing (IIRC, it was M$ Word), drivers ed., music and art education, sex ed., etc.
The challenges remain... finding people who can teach it, and being able to provide enough equipment for each child to learn. Filling a computer lab with decent hardware should be cost effective, but still, given how cutbacks abound, you never know. Some places STILL operate on strapped budgets.
Teaching MS stuff is like teaching how to run a horse and buggy. It was even so a decade or more ago.
I guess if one desires to be a Secretary in an office that uses MS it is OK, but is has ZERO to do with computers, programming, the internet and most of the skills needed to move forward today.
Maybe google docs...as ONE small part of the use of google....Wow, MS must have done a job on brainwashing the admin of schools (free software, etc) to get these ancient skills taught.
I have been a computer consultant, web developer (large sites. millions of visitors), inventor, importer, etc. or decades and haven't used those programs in as long as I remember.
Uh... kids learn that because they will need it later in school, especially high school and college. Papers have to be typed and presentations have to be given. Nobody's aiming to teach "useful career technology" to 4th graders.
I don't know if this has changed, but I am amused how they never really had any formal courses, or at least spent one day's of class to at least talk about finances... credit cards, saving, writing checks, basic bank account stuff. At least parents were proactive enough when giving their kids credit cards that YOU NEED TO PAY BACK THE MONEY YOU SPENT! TREAT IT LIKE CASH! Use it for necessities like in emergencies, buying textbooks, or car repairs/taking the bus to the ol college campus.
.
As for your post, I agree with it, except I'll add the caveat that the OP suggested courses in programming robots. That's a bit TOO specific. I don't know if there are THAT MANY positions for programming robots. Then again, while app developers are still in demand, they've also taken a hit now that a lot more people are doing it vs. say, even 5 years ago.
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Basics are fine and dandy. I enjoyed learning how to sew (unsuccessfully), basic shop class (wood and metalworking), how assembly lines work (related to shop), how to bake cookies, how to use the oven in general, operating a microwave oven, how to use a computer mouse and keyboard (like function keys, drag and drop, double click), basic computer knowledge (Mac and Windows, bits, bytes, CPU, RAM, hardrive), word processing (IIRC, it was M$ Word), drivers ed., music and art education, sex ed., etc.
The challenges remain... finding people who can teach it, and being able to provide enough equipment for each child to learn. Filling a computer lab with decent hardware should be cost effective, but still, given how cutbacks abound, you never know. Some places STILL operate on strapped budgets.
The language that they use to make the robots do tricks really teaches kids the fundamentals. If building and making the robots do stuff motivates the kids the learn basic syntax, which can be applied to ruby, python, whatever, that's great. As someone pointed out, every few years, a revised version of the language comes out so it's not necessary to get stuck on one particular language. We know the technology is going to change. That's a given. But it's so much easier to use previous related knowledge to learn something new than to learn from scratch.
As for money for education. There is so much $$$ floating around for this stuff. One huge organization started in Ireland and now there are chapters all over the US. But there are many organizations that are willing to educate kids for free as either a summer program, after school program, or in-school program. Most are in large or middle-sized cities and they tend to target at-risk students. There's other free stuff through colleges for middle and high school aged students. They know that most kids love video games and they use that to make their curriculum appeal to kids. Sometimes, its certified teachers who teach the programs, other times it's manned by volunteers who work in industry. The millennials love doing this stuff. There are usually waiting lists to be a volunteer. I've worked with people in their 20s from Microsoft, Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc. and these corporations (not plugging them or anything) are happy to donate, money, equipment, and space. Hour of code, a day to introduce kids to computer science is very, very big and is offered during the school day or on a weekend. https://hourofcode.com/us. Some of the groups like Girls Who Code, an offshoot of Women Who Code, offer classes for the parents to take while their kids are learning in another room. Also, public libraries are teaching technology classes to kids. https://www.nypl.org/tech-connect?ke...pic=&audience= Camp Interactive looks for volunteers who can also offer high school students to spend a day shadowing in the workplace or summer internships.
Sure, there are gifted kids who have developed incredible apps on their own. But there are remedial special ed kids, who love to play video games and are also motivated to learn this stuff. Some children with certain learning issues will find this a struggle and will not enjoy it. Others will. It depends on the individual child. Never the less, it does help children to improve problem solving skills that can be applied to any type of academic area.
Uh... kids learn that because they will need it later in school, especially high school and college. Papers have to be typed and presentations have to be given. Nobody's aiming to teach "useful career technology" to 4th graders.
Calm down. LOL
You have committed my #1 CD pet peeve, saying "nobody has said" when it was said upthread. Here is the OP below. This one implies career training.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncole1
If so many are predicting mass automation within the next 20 years or so, then why isn't coding/robotics a "subject" in school alongside grammar, reading, and math?
Word processing is something entirely different, and was taught back when my kids were in ele school in the early 90s; they learned power point by high school in the late 90s/early 2000s.
You have committed my #1 CD pet peeve, saying "nobody has said" when it was said upthread. Here is the OP below. This one implies career training.
Word processing is something entirely different, and was taught back when my kids were in ele school in the early 90s; they learned power point by high school in the late 90s/early 2000s.
No, I was saying "nobody said" that word/powerpoint/etc was being taught as an effort to give students career skills.
The person I was responding to was asserting it was useless to teach elementary school kids that stuff because it was obsolete in the workforce, and my point they don't teach it to them for that reason, its because they have to use these types of software in school going forward.
It was really just an aside to the main point... which is elementary school do a bit of microsoft suite software introduction and that's about all they do with a computer universally... but drag and drop "coding" does get covered widely not JUST through the schools but from after school programs, summer camps and apps directed at kids.
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