Recent searches
Search options
Administered by:
Many people have said "teach everyone to code!" or cheer-leaded for "learning to code!" but there hasn't been enough discussion about what a Computer Science component to a liberal arts education ought to look like.
In mathematics we have many lists and trees of what mathematicians think people ought to learn, what order it should be learned in.
Not so in computer science. We just say "learn to code" this would be like if math people said "learn to integrate functions!"
Notice that "integrating functions" is an outcome, a specific skill. A nice one that implies you know a lot of math... maybe. But not all math curriculums end there. There is a robust debate in math education about if we obsesses about The Calculus too much, everyone understands that doing some integrals isn't "knowing math."
I think most CS educators understand something similar but there is much less consensus about what it is that we are teaching if not "how to code."
For me the major topics of a CS education for the general public are:
* Computer Hardware
* Encoding and Decoding
* Logic and Control Structures
* Iterration
* Objects & Functions
* Databases
* Ethics and Applications
* User Interfaces and Design
* Computer Networks
* Computer History
This list keeps changing every time I revise my courses which is every year.
I added functions with objects, but students learn about functions almost from day one.
**File Structures need a clear home.
@futurebird I feel computer networks are missing here?
I agree. However, as a HS teacher the resistance and total lack of support I get when I want to teach about networks is remarkable.
And computer history should include a history of networks explaining why the internet is the way that it is.
@futurebird oh, that's sad. It seems such a closed field also. While most of the stuff isn't super complicated.
Any time you combine "the internet" and "children" people freak out. And not without reasons, but it's also very unhelpful.
I have been trying to get an intranet set up for them to learn, but I get so little support doing this from IT. And I'm asking a lot of them! There are not a lot of off the shelf "educational servers" designed for kids to play with that have been tested for years and come with worksheets and lesson plans.
I have to make all that from SCRATCH.
It's frustrating because a lot of the student sized projects aren't needed anymore. No one needs a file server because all of their work magically syncs to Google Drive, no one can self host a video game server because every game connects to a central server for matchmaking.
I had students build a Minecraft server years ago but iOS, Chromebook and Android clients can't connect to it, only PC and most of them found that very annoying so I haven't bothered to repeat the project.
Thing is we might need those things again. And that's just the kind of basic stuff I want them to experience.
And really they would find fun ways to use it since so much of social media and other things are blocked at school. They could make their own little servers for fun things. (and this wouldn't be in conflict with the reasons such services are blocked since that's mostly about ... creeps.)
Used PCs that can't update to Windows 11 are selling for pretty close to the cost of shipping these days, the time cost hasn't changed though...
yeah hardware isn't the problem. Choosing the right software cooperation from school IT is.
For example I've asked them to open the port on the intranet for FTP like three times and I don't know if this is impossible or what the hang up is.
My students have to put files on our server with a stick disk and that limits the potential for it to be used.
And I'm just asking for FTP(or something that works the same) on the intranet... not outside of school.
ALTHOUGH
I just had an idea! I could write a script to copy files from a google drive (which the school uses all over the place) to the correct folder and students could upload code THAT way.
Seems obvious now. But I won't know if there is some thing to block it from working until I go in physically and try it.
@futurebird @fociP @wmd Your school's IT lets students plug thumb drives into computers? Whoa... That's way more risky than opening up ports 21 and 22 for FTP. SSH might be an option for moving files. You can teach something about cryptography as part of it.
I agree that the really important problem is finding good student-sized projects that are meaningful and fun. That's a problem at the professional level, let alone public schools. Interesting stuff that's not lame, doesn't require exotic libraries or frameworks, and and doesn't require 100K lines of code--surprisingly hard to think of. (Data analytics for sports teams?)
I don't think they are worried about viruses or hacking. They are worried about creeps from the wild internet chatting with kids and being creeps. And really so am I.
@fociP @futurebird @wmd counterargument: everyone needs a file server that magically syncs so they don't need google drive
@datum @fociP @futurebird @wmd Nextcloud… it’s kinda intoxicating once you get it running and realize all it can do. I have Google, Dropbox and OneDrive but I realize I haven’t even bothered to touch them for a year or so.
@fociP @futurebird @wmd you could pick a project from https://www.optoutproject.net/the-cyber-cleanse-take-back-your-digital-footprint/