Learning Coding - How?

[Bonkersconkers]

What the title says - how can kids get to learn to code. What are fun ways to go about it beyond the iPad apps. We live in a rural area with no computer clubs etc. I get it is likely to become a necessary skill .... but I haven't got a clue where to start.

Apparently it is best to start young in primary school according to the BBC. Unfortunately my DC are blessed with coding illiterate parents.

Scratch. Google for it - it's a free programme produced by MIT. There's loads of stuff online about how to use it as there's a very lively scratch community.

It's on the new primary curriculum and so will be compulsory for all primary schools from September 2014.

Nesta fund a few things. Have a look here: www.nesta.org.uk/news_and_features/assets/features/weve_supporting_seven_projects_encouraging_young_people_to_make_not_just_consume_digital_technology

I think I recall seeing a coding game or something similar.

I also saw Dr Black talk at the MN blogfest about her org Tech Mums, which helps skill up mums. It is just in London currently I think but worth having a look at what they do.

I believe BCS/NAACE are supposed to be issuing guidance for teachers on how to teach those aspects of the new curriculum in a couple of weeks time.

For primary kids I quite like the document here: csunplugged.org which teaches the concepts, binary and so on, in interesting ways without computers.

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Meanwhile it won't be ever be a "necessary skill", expect in the sense that it's in the curriculum. For more on that go here and read the section titled Emperors New Code which is pretty much how anyone with a half-decent clue sees it:

www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6363098

Having done that, note that an apparently sulky DfE have subsequently killed their very own computing expert group. A quote from the chair of that group: "I received a phone call from the DfE saying some people weren’t happy with what we have been saying and that they were pulling the funding with immediate effect”.

Get an Arduino or a Raspberry Pi
play with Scratch
go to a Maker event

Codeacademy is great (and free!) but it might be a bit much depending on the age of the kids. They also give free access to resources to start an afterschool programming club - any chance their school might be interested?

+1 for the Arduino. Huge fun.

Espresso Education (for primary) have just launched a coding website.

Your DCs school may already have an espresso subscription and should be able to give you a home login.

It's basic but fun!

I write code for a living. I don't think it's going to become a 'necessary skill' for everyone, or that it's vital to learn as a child. I didn't actually learn till I got to university.

That said, I fully support it being in the national curriculum as it exposes a lot of people (especially girls) who might not otherwise think it's something they'd be good at. In my industry there aren't enough people graduating with the right technical skills, but loads of jobs to fill. I like the approach of the US school who are trying to sprinkle a bit of computing through the other subjects.

I've also heard good things about scratch. Depends how old and motivated they are.

the fun think with an Arduino is that you get to MAKE your coded creations ...

PS
all the really good coders I know did degrees in things like Maths and Electronics ....

What funny said to a certain degree however it does come down to jobs.

P is a coder and says in the environment he works in the preference is against outsourcing.He says a lot of the cheap code he has to deal with from abroad is poor quality and riddled with bugs.When there are problems said outsourced staff find it hard to problem solve and think out of the box.Said coders are also becoming more expensive as standards of living and wage expectations go up.

Surely you want trained coders at all levels and extra job possibilities for British kids can only be a good thing.

Dp's company has struggled to get staff with the qualifications they need.

Also as the mother of a child very able at IT I applaud the new curriculum.DS 10's lesson in school last week was finger typing,he was bored shatless having been on a G&T coding course the previous week.He has to sit through French lessons learning a language he'll prob rarely use so not getting the argument re not bothering with doing coding in school.

Do we really want our country to be completely unskilled in this and totally reliant on other countries?

Talkin yes my coder dp did Mech Eng but his Masters was computer science,obviously all his other coding qualifications are language specific.He says far too managers can't code and problems happen because of this.

He'd love kids to come out of school far better qualified so they didn't have to train people on the job or rely on contractors(some who swoop in from abroad get paid shitloads then buggar off).

Also surely we should aim to get kids to a certain level so if they want to branch off into the higher level stuff at the exam stage they can- like any other subject.

By the way, coding is not just a skill that's useful for being a software developer. There are other career paths where coding is a useful skill. Science in particular, but a lot of design is also moving towards being heavily computer based, or management of technical people. Sure there are others too! Also, it teaches you to think in a particular way which can be a plus.

Bonkersconkers, you might want to look at "7 apps for teaching kids coding skills" too.

That's why I was asking - lots of friends needed to be able to write computer codes to evaluate their research - and they had to teach themselves. I think if it is demystified for girls at a young age, then they have confidence to try when they are older. Problem is I am clueless ... So looks like I might need to have a go at it with them. School at the moment seems to be about WP processing skills.

Thanks for all the suggestions - am off to try them out. And more ideas are welcome. Does that scarily expensive Lego kit to build robots help with coding / develops that kind of mindset. I had parents who were anti science and computers, and while I don't know a lot, I want to enthuse my dc.

Bonkersconkers, why not learn alongside your dc's? They'll love it!

There's no need to progress to Lego Mindstorms, Rasberry Pi or anything else until you've got to grips with Scratch. Look at the Code Club curriculum, which is aimed at 9-11 year-olds. You'll see they start with Scratch and progress from there.

Mindstorms : you can get the older versions for not too much on Ebay.

DH has built a wonderful Arduino powered robot : all coding and engineering skills ...