MY VISION<\/p>\n
by Richard White<\/p>\n
2016-03-24<\/p>\n
You almost certainly heard that a couple of months ago, President Obama called for “Computer Science for All<\/a>” in a program of the same name. From the Fact Sheet<\/a> for that initiative:<\/p>\n \nProviding access to CS is a critical step for ensuring that our nation remains competitive in the global economy and strengthens its cybersecurity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n We’ll set aside (for the moment) Obama’s more recent call to weaken that cybersecurity<\/a> that he’s such a fan of. In the larger perspective, Obama is correct: we need to provide more opportunities for students to learn Computer Science.<\/p>\n I think he gets this just right. This statement doesn’t say students must<\/i> take CS classes. This is not necessarily a requirement. But the vast majority of students probably should<\/i> take one or two CS classes, and certainly everybody should have the opportunity<\/i> to take CS classes.<\/p>\n When people ask me about it now—the Vision question—this is part of my thinking:<\/p>\n \nI don’t think every student should be required<\/i> to take Computer Science. But every student should<\/i> take Computer Science.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n They should recognize that computers, technology, the internet, social networks, online advertising, and cybersecurity have an enormous influence on how they live their daily lives.<\/p>\n It’s certainly possible for a student to educate themselves, but we shouldn’t expect them to take that on alone any more than we expect students to teach themselves calculus or how to write a research paper. Schools offer instruction in these areas because well-educated citizens need to know about these things, or at least need to have been exposed to them in a structured setting.<\/p>\n What do you think? Should schools require students to take a CS course, or should they just offer the curriculum and see who shows up?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MY VISION by Richard White 2016-03-24 You almost certainly heard that a couple of months ago, President Obama called for “Computer Science for All” in a program of the same name. From the Fact Sheet for that initiative: Providing access to CS is a critical step for ensuring that our nation remains competitive in the … Continue reading My Vision<\/span>