Coding Courses that Teach Real Code!
Writing snippets of JavaScript to move a character 2 steps to the left, doesn’t teach kids anything about programming … at best, it’s a cheap replacement for an xbox controller.
… One teacher called me up recently, telling me how after the initial excitement student’s had moving characters around with code snippets, students fell into a pattern of typing in commands blindly to move the character, and quickly got bored.
In the end, students ended up not learning much of anything.
Teach real-world coding can be very fun for students!
When I first developed the StudioWeb program and curriculum 7 years ago, I wanted to teach students how to actually code real projects.
Most of the courses offered out there, are created by programmers who have no understanding of education. So they all fall back on the erroneous idea that to make coding fun, kids should use pseudo-code (fake code) or code snippets, to move characters in a game.
… But as I mentioned before, this type of course, doesn’t actually teach real coding. As any programmer / coder will tell you, it is the concepts behind the code that matters.
Have students write real code to learn code:
I come from a family of teachers, and have been developing code course since 2003. I was able to leverage that experience to produce a curriculum that is both engaging, and still teaches students how to write real code, using the most important computer languages today:
- HTML5
- CSS3
- JavaScript
- Python
- PHP
- SQL
Added benefits (to students) learning to code:
I see the value in teaching coding beyond the obvious job opportunities:
- Logical thinking
- Problem solving
- Deferment of gratification
- Organizational skills
- Digital awareness which can protect them from scams
… Etc.
So even if the kids don’t code in their future careers, they still have much to learn by learning to code.
But I also recognize that I am as biased as you can get!
Stef Mischook
StudioWeb