[Novalug] OT - US Schools not teaching basics of computer science

Mark Smith mark@winksmith.com
Mon Feb 17 15:38:19 EST 2014


much to my chagrin, my kids just want to play computer games and
have no interest in knowing anything about computers.  they think
of the playstation as a console and not as a specialized computer.
furthermore, talk to the average person and they thinks that the monitor
is the computer.

no solutions forthcoming from me, just comments about how i see the
current environment.

On Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 12:24:04PM -0500, Bonnie Dalzell wrote:
> This morning there was a broadcast on NPR about the failure of most US 
> schools to teach the basics of computer science
> 
> A  Push To Boost Computer Science Learning, Even At An Early Age
> http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/271151462/a-push-to-boost-computer-science-learning-even-at-an-early-age
> 
> The main point of the article is that computer science is a lot more than 
> just being able to point and click through programs and get online.
> 
> In my mind the difference between a user and a computer literate person.
> 
> Coincidentally, yesterday, I had a discussion with one of my employees 
> (college age) about his classes this spring term.
> 
> He is a science math major with an Apple computer.
> 
> His father, a physician, does some software development in Excel.
> 
> Sounds like he would be able to take a course as UMBC called "introduction 
> to computer science"?
> 
> Well he had to drop the course because the instructor presumed that the 
> students would already know Linux and the basics of command line use.
> 
> Things, for example, that no characters appear when you type a user name 
> in a shell while logging onto the university's server.
> 
> I spent Sunday setting up an old Dell laptop with Xubuntu and lots of 
> links to only tutorials and a few downloaded pdf tutorials so he could get 
> a taste of interacting with an operating system rather than just being 
> a user.
> 
> He will be picking the machine up tonight or tomorrow.
> 
> This has caused me to think about something - obviously the course 
> instructor came from a generation in which kids interested in computers 
> had easy access to the guts of computers - the command line, simple 
> command line scripts, etc. Things that gradually ease you into 
> understanding computer science.
> 
> I am thinking that the massive presence of high level operating systems 
> and GUI environments is pretty much concealing the guts of computer 
> science from young people today and that this need to leap into a 
> different universe of understanding is one of the reasons why there is a 
> decline in interest in computer science courses and learning programming.
> 
> Is this topic worthy of discussion?
> 
> And NOT wanting to start a flame war - but what language would you try 
> and have your child learn first (even if you do not have a child but it 
> was someone you were advising).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>                         Bonnie Dalzell, MA
> mail:PO box 9767 Baldwin, MD, USA 21013  |  EMAIL:bdalzell@qis.net
> shipping address:5100 Hydes Rd 21082 (Hydes Post Office closed Jan 2012)
> Freelance anatomist, vertebrate paleontologist, writer, illustrator, dog
> breeder, computer nerd & iconoclast... Borzoi info at www.borzois.com.
> HOME www.batw.net    ART bdalzellart.batw.net  BUSINESS www.boardingatwedge.com
> 
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-- 
Hei konā mai
Mark Smith
mark@winksmith.com



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