Should Students in Primary Schools Learn Computer Science?
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Transcript of Should Students in Primary Schools Learn Computer Science?
Should Students in Primary Schools Learn Computer Science?
Primary Schools Teach Computer Science
UK Primary Schools (K-12) Computing at School Working Group (CAS),
Google and Microsoft
Why A Change? Especially in the UK Change in the overall school system ICT and Computing
Networking and IT work (vocational) Simon Peyton-Jones Michael Gove’s speech
Almost every field depends on technology Bill Gates warned for the need of children to
understand computer programming
Michael Gove “It's clear that technology is going to bring profound changes to how and what we teach. But it's equally clear that we have not yet managed to make the most of it.”
Why Should Common People Know Computing
Technology is present almost everywhere you go Most job’s use technology in some way Use of an employee to do a simple program
instead of hiring a temp outside the company. Someone will need help at sometime. “Twenty years ago, medicine was not an
information technology. Now, genomes have been decoded and the technologies of biological engineering and synthetic biology are transforming medicine. The boundary between biology and IT is already blurring into whole new fields, like bio-informatics.” -Gove
STEM Discipline Long Term Value
A Body of Knowledge A Set of Techniques & Methods A way of Thinking & Working
Own Theoretical Foundations Involves logic & reasoning Scientific approach Wide Range of Technologies
Provides insight into other STEM Disciplines
What Should they Teach? Microsoft Office Real CS
Data Representation Communication Abstraction & Design Languages, machines, & Computation
What Would be the Standards A-Level computing
18-16 year olds Ending Goals (by Key Stages)
Algorithms: what it is, what it can be used for. Programs: design, write, run and debug
executable programs in at least one language How computers represent and transport data. Components that make up a computer system
Which Languages? Scratch or Mindstorm Like Java, Python, C++ A mathematics language How do we choose a language to start kids
out on?
Is it Possible? Teachers
Why would they want to teach What would be a standard curriculum
Raspberry Pi Would the material be valid? Compared to taking a foreign language
It helps Should not be mandatory.
Pros and Cons Help Teach Math &
Logic Inspire more
students to take CS to a degree level.
CS represents fundamental knowledge of the world like math or physics or geography
What Languages Lack of CS Teachers Too Vocational