Coding is becoming a part of a complete person's literacy and creativity.
Everybody should be fluent not only in written communication but also the code that powers it.
Code is becoming one of the languages that defines modern life, and code literacy is becoming increasingly important for people to understand and create the future we now live in. Code is one of the sciences that defines the innovations of our age and shapes our moment-to-moment experience of Internet-using lives. In a world where we all use code, it is time for us to learn to read and write it so that we become not merely consumers but also creators and participants in digital democracy.
We all have a latent capacity for creativity waiting to be discovered within us. Code is a whole new dimension of creativity and by learning to code you can awaken in yourself a whole world of creative possibilities for your life.
Code Hero's mission is to create code literacy through gaming. Code Hero gives gamers a way to channel their love of gaming into the ability to make games by learning to code. The power to write code is the power to create anything.
Code Literacy as a key to Science Literacy
Code literacy is becoming an increasingly important part of the world's efforts to revolutionize STEM learning. Science, Technology, Engineeering & Math are all fields that take enthusiasm and effort to gain the confidence and expertise to master. Game coding makes mastering code fun and gives you the sense that you can do anything you set your mind to.
Estonia is teaching programming to ALL children in school 6 and up
With the launch of the Raspberry Pi, computers are becoming affordable again for the younger generations. Now what we need is kids learning about computers in greater detail, including what the hardware is inside the box, and how to create rather than just use software.
Estonia looks to be the pace setter in this regard, and has just announced that it is introducing computer programming learning for all children attending school. By all, I mean from Grades 1 through to 12, meaning children as young as 6 will be writing their own code and producing software.
The program is called “ProgeTiiger” and is being introduced by the Estonian Tiger Leap Foundation as a pilot scheme to some Estonian schools this year. Next year the program will expand alongside adding programming groups for older kids who want to carry on activities outside of the classroom. Eventually it looks as though ProgeTiiger will become just another standard part of the curriculum, just like math and language studies are.
Although young children will no doubt be started off with very simple computational tasks, the goal is to get them creating web and mobile applications. By doing so, Estonia is equipping future generations with the necessary skills to go directly into programming and software development roles–areas that are seeing growing demand for new talent. However, such skills will be of use whatever they choose as a career due to computers becoming an ever more common part of our day-to-day lives.
Adding programming as a standard part of a child’s education makes a lot of sense. Not only does it add new skills as part of a their learning, but it supports other subjects as programming typically requires the use of math and logic.
Code is the new literacy and it is just the first of many because literacy is expanding
Literacy shouldn't expand only to code, and we can create new aspirational games with Code Hero to inspire young people to explore and master all the arts and sciences to which human beings are heir, steward and explorer.
Arts
The STEM acronym is incomplete: We need more than scientists, technologists, engineers and mathemeticians: We need the arts to create renaissance people who can create everything else.
There are many ways in which technology needs the arts' help. Technology is already equal parts design and engineering, with the largest technology company on earth Apple defining itself through excellent design that makes the user experience of technology delightful.
Reasoning
"A lot has been written about “the three ‘R’s” at the core of any school syllabus: reading, writing and arithmetic. There is also a fourth ‘R’ that for too long has been neglected: reasoning. A strong case can be made for introducing philosophy, or philosophical reasoning, as a new short course in the curriculum of all schools across Ireland, ideally at all levels in both primary and secondary school.
Over the last 30 years there have been a number of important research projects, in different parts of the world, aimed at showing that introducing school children of all ages to philosophy can have great benefits, including improving a child’s reading and mathematical skills.
The empirical evidence is overwhelming. Building on the pioneering work of Matthew Lipman at Montclair State University in New Jersey, there are now similar projects in Australia and across the European Union."
-The Fourth R should be part of schools: Reasoning