That isn't being taught in in 90% of US schools. Starring Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg

What most schools don't teach - YouTube

What most schools don't teach
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Learn about a new "superpower" that isn't being taught in in 90% of US schools. Starring Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, will.i.am, Chris Bosh, Jack Dorsey, Tony Hsieh, Drew Houston, Gabe Newell, Ruchi Sanghvi, Elena Silenok,...

 

The reason why "they" don't teach it? Most kids do not have the ability to learn "it'.

 

I would completely disagree with that statement. Rather I would argue that they don't have faculty to teach it.

-Matt

 

Agree, I'm teaching my nine year old son PERL and he loves it. He has dabbled a bit with Python and C++. They key is patience, lots of patience.

 

I'd much rather see schools teach economic literacy. Now, I'm not talking about the way micro and macro courses are taught today with all of their charts, graphs, and arcane terminology like "ceteris paribus." Rather, I'm talking about a course that teaches basic economic literacy, like the broken window fallacy, for example. Far too many people go through life without even the most basic understanding of how and why the world around them works.

 

LOL care to teach me? I've been trying to learn Perl and I have my work cut out for me!

 

Gates and Zuk are exceptional exceptions. We have xylophones and drums in most kindergartens. How many Mozart's have we made? There are already plenty of talented programmers out there, it sounds like another in the long line of M$ bullshit to get cheap labor via the H1B Visa route.

Coding may be easy to learn on it's face, but to be good at it you almost have to be a savant. Staring at lines of code for 15 hours a day is not for most people. In fact, it's for very few. The myriad of skills it takes to be a good programmer are diverse, which is why it's a small subset of IT. You have to be able to think critically, possess keen analytical skills, be great at general problem-solving, and know how to do research. The actual coding portion is a small part of the whole.

 

he he, anytime mate. :biggthumpup: Here is a helpful link on PERL, I've use this site with my son, and I've found it helpful.

Tinkering with Perl → A free online how-to book

 

I know you didn't mean it spiritually, but I would apply it to that realm as well.

 

I dunno. There are kids who can't read/write properly, too. Lots of 'em. Funny thing is - some kids who aren't great with reading/writing CAN learn to code --often, quite well. I've seen it! And MANY others - some of 'em very good readers/writers, don't learn to code very well -- in some cases, not at all...and not for want of teaching effort.

I think it's rather like playing music. Some have natural ability and quickly learn to play expressively and well. Others may be able, after incessant (and often, dreaded) training, to barely scrape a tune or two, but that's all.

One author's stance is here: "Why Johnny can't code." Why Johnny can’t code - Salon.com I don't necessarily agree with all he says. I like Basic - it's the second programming language I was introduced to, as a young whippersnapper of 38 or 40. (I'm 70, now, and the first was COBOL.) That said, I don't think "more Basic" is the answer to any coding crisis we may have in the schools. But what do I know? I've always remained an amateur - never worked as a programmer.

Here in Canada, my son teaches computer subjects, including programming, in a High School. He currently teaches mostly Java and Python. At home, he's teaching his 9 year-old son Java. He (my grandson) enjoys it and is also learning Scratch on his own - no teacher needed!

I dunno if we have the same level of "coding crisis" here as American posters are reporting in this thread. Just not sure...

Johann

 

I took a Visual Basic course several years ago. I don't know if it was just that particular language, but I determined that coding was just too tedious and boring for me.