Should we teach computers in school

[EddyNashton]

I do not mean basic office programs, typing, and powerpoint. I mean basic coding, language, web design, how to take a computer apart and put it back together, how to make an app. Honestly, some of this stuff can be done in a year and has been taught in a year for stuff like Senior project and other clubs and after school programs. I dont see why they can not just have it in the main computer class. If all you ever learn after 12 years is how to Type, I think the school system is failing you.

 

[cosmictraveler]

I'd think a basic course would be practical to teach about but a elected field of study should be available to those wanting to go farther in the field.

 

[Jeeves]

For a minute, I thought you meant a classroom full of baby computers, taking ethics and AI lessons.
Yes, basic theory should be taught in science courses, from Grade 2 to 12 - but that should include the basic theory of all the major technologies we routinely use; it should include simple maintenance and safety. Perhaps in a life-skills course, you could include how to evaluate electronic equipment for energy efficiency and price/utility ratio.
As for programming, why bother? The geeks will learn it on their own; the rest will pick up just enough to mess up their home computer, and it will all be outdated two years after they graduate.

 

[EddyNashton]

For a minute, I thought you meant a classroom full of baby computers, taking ethics and AI lessons.
Yes, basic theory should be taught in science courses, from Grade 2 to 12 - but that should include the basic theory of all the major technologies we routinely use; it should include simple maintenance and safety. Perhaps in a life-skills course, you could include how to evaluate electronic equipment for energy efficiency and price/utility ratio.
As for programming, why bother? The geeks will learn it on their own; the rest will pick up just enough to mess up their home computer, and it will all be outdated two years after they graduate.

You might not have noticed but we live in a era of technology. They thought the 90s was but it was not. It was the transitional period between the old way into technology. Children who are 6 are being marketed technology, they are even trying to market it to babies. However a lot of people still dont know computers and it would be more practical to at least teach basic coding/programming to students in school vs just teaching them Typing which is basically all most students will still have by the time they graduate. Why teach less when you could teach more? Realistically if we are going to teach students so little there is no reason to even send them to HS to begin with. Also more students would LEARN computers if they were given the free opportunity to learn it in school.

 

[DaveC426913]

I mean basic coding, language, web design, how to take a computer apart and put it back together, how to make an app.

We should ask oursleves what the purpose of mandatory courses in school is, and at what level?

Among other things, they should give us basic exposure to the relevant things we're going to need for a healthy eduction and future career.

There is no question that computing is as relevant as math, english and music.

Basic logic should definitely be taught - not so sure about web design or apps. And who disassembles computers anymore?

 

[DaveC426913]

As for programming, why bother? The geeks will learn it on their own; the rest will pick up just enough to mess up...

But this could just as easily be said about any subject - Math, English, Electronics, Shop...

(Why did I learn basic Plumbing and Electrical? I'll learn just enough to wreck my house! Why learn Typing - now I think I can be an author!)

The point of school is to expose students to things they might not already be predisposed to, so that their options are expanded, and so that they're not simply streamed into what they already think they know.

 

[Jeeves]

When I was in high-school, there were office courses for girls, and trade courses for boys, to prepare them for jobs that disappeared within 10 years of their leaving school. My Gr 13 class was still routed to engineering at university when the the jobs for those graduates were drying up by the thousands. School curricula are cumbersome, slow-responding leviathans.
Keyboarding, okay; most white-collar occupations require electronic communication. But each technical occupation has specialized instruments and devices that high-school never heard of.
Plumbing and wiring, carpentry and insulation are useful skills; houses don't change all the time - though it might be a good to teach solar equipment installation, too, and horticulture.
Web design and software design professionals - with years of experience, not a Mickey Mouse high-school course - become obsolete every week.
If the system breaks down, all the sophisticated devices will become paperweights; if it survives, it'll keep changing much faster than the curriculum.

 

[DaveC426913]

When I was in high-school, there were office courses for girls, and trade courses for boys, to prepare them for jobs that disappeared within 10 years of their leaving school. My Gr 13 class was still routed to engineering at university when the the jobs for those graduates were drying up by the thousands. School curricula are cumbersome, slow-responding leviathans.
Keyboarding, okay; most white-collar occupations require electronic communication. But each technical occupation has specialized instruments and devices that high-school never heard of.
Plumbing and wiring, carpentry and insulation are useful skills; houses don't change all the time - though it might be a good to teach solar equipment installation, too, and horticulture.
Web design and software design professionals - with years of experience, not a Mickey Mouse high-school course - become obsolete every week.
If the system breaks down, all the sophisticated devices will become paperweights; if it survives, it'll keep changing much faster than the curriculum.

Yup.
Which is why I suggest logic and basic systems stuff.

The Information Age is not a passing thing, and some fundamentals are future-proof.

 

[Jeeves]

I did say: teach theory, not application.

 

[EddyNashton]

I'd think a basic course would be practical to teach about but a elected field of study should be available to those wanting to go farther in the field.

Yeah but elected fields are not really optional. To graduate a lot of highschools you need 2 years of elective in foriegn language, and two years in Art, and that is basically four years of HS. I think it would make more sense if they added required classes into CORE curriculum. It makes no sense to give students the ability to take an elective if you dont plan on giving them the ability to take it.