What do you know about coding? Tell The Sunday Times for a chance to win a £250 John Lewis voucher NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

The Sunday Times have asked us to let Mumsnetters know that they’re running a Learn to Code series this weekend to coincide with the inclusion of coding in the national curriculum.

They told us: “With coding hitting the national curriculum this week, and our readers becoming more tech-savvy than ever, we will be demystifing computer programming in this weekend's edition of the paper. In partnership with Decoded, a company that specialises in digital training, the Learn to Code in a Day guide out this Sunday will take readers step-by-step through app-making.”.

“Editorial Director Eleanor Mills, who did Decoded's Code in a Day course herself, said: 'This is an exciting moment for us as we are the first British newspaper to offer a course like this. With five year-olds now learning computer programming in school, it is essential that adults keep up too.”

“If you’re nodding whilst reading the above then why not give it a go yourself? The easy guide will empower and equip you with the knowledge needed to tackle those potential conversations with your children over homework after school."

“Simply sign up to The Sunday Times for a £1 for 30-day trial and start learning now: thetim.es/1uD6qml”

So, what do you think about the addition of coding to the curriculum? Do you think it’s beneficial for children to learn this from a young age? Is this something you think you could get your head around when you were younger? Are there any other additions to the curriculum you feel are necessary for children to cope with today’s technologies?

Everyone who adds their thoughts to this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 John Lewis voucher.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

Coding puts the food on our table every night. It's DH's job!

I do like to dabble. I cut my teeth with Basic on a BBC micro, and also on those cards that you colour in with a pencil. We sent them to County Hall, where they'd be run on the mainframe and the result sent back to us. Usually with complaints about the waste of printer paper because the code resulted in page after page of "I love John Taylor".

I've dabbled since then, doing an OU course in Java and playing about with Processing and producing some rather simple web pages, from scratch. It's good fun, when I've got the time and energy to think about it. I also have Squeak on my laptop because I planned to use it with DS1, but never really got around to working it out.

Brilliant idea, dh used to work in some sort of IT job (I switch off when he talks tbh) & he was keen to teach our doc to be as tech savvy as possible.
With the way tech is headed, you'll probably be at a massive disadvantage, on the job market, in 5/10years if you're not able to write your own software...plus it's an excellent way to get 'girls' into the industry.

Just got to hope parents keep savvy to what their child can do!

I'm a programmer and I've also taught children to code (look for codeclub or coder dojo for things in your area). It's really hard to actually get children to concentrate and understand...a lot of the teaching is likely to be done in a "monkey see monkey do" way with tools like scratch...which doesn't necessarily actually get them understanding what they have done. There will be some fabulous teachers who will be able to properly pass the info on...I just wonder about how much the younger children will learn.

Also it's worth remembering that while everyone can code it's the same as playing an instrument - some will take to it much more naturally and others will really struggle.

I also think that in future the big skill will be having ideas and being able to manage a development process rather than necessarily doing it yourself...

That's actually a good point about girls in the industry, DrFunkes. DH can count the number of female coders he's worked with on one hand and he's been in the industry for the best part of 2 decades.

I think it's a good idea but has to be appropriate to the age. My son has just gone into year 2 and we've been using the code.org website over the summer to start to learn some of the fundamentals. Like most 6 year olds my son doesn't have a close relationship with logical thinking (understatement) but problem solving in the "if then else" format of coding is very helpful in getting him to shape his thoughts more rationally.

I've never heard of it. I had better read up on it before my 6 year old starts learning it.

An absolutely fab, free to download coding programme is Kodu. We use it in school and my year sixes are mad about it. It really encourages logical thinking and problem solving, and when you see the games others have made you realise the scale of possibilities. I'd say kids who love minecraft-type games would love this in particular.

You can register for a free short course introducing teachers to teaching the new computing curriculum at Futurelearn (with University of East Anglia).
It's aimed at teachers but anyone can sign up.
www.futurelearn.com/courses/teaching-computing-part-one-2

Futurelearn Aldo run an excellent free course teaching people to code their own apps, if you fancy having a go yourselves.

I'm a scientist and I learnt programming at university (20 years ago). Prior to my degree I'd barely touched a computer. It was a difficult thing to begin learning from scratch but it was great. I loved it. Children today will use computers and software daily throughout their lives. ICT was dated and pointless IMO. Children often knew more about ICT than their teachers. I'm relieved that they have now woken up to the fact that programming languages, 'coding' and logical operations need to be taught to children. Children can really excel in this subject (if taught well and given the freedom to almost self teach) and it will help them in other areas of study due to the logical nature of programming.

On a separate note when did it become 'closing' and not programming?!

I'm such a dolt I have no idea what coding is. Is it the same as programming? What do they actually dooooooo? I'm going to have to look at some of these websites to catch up.

DH says the terms are interchangeable, but you could theorise that "programming" might include some hardware aspect.

I think it's an excellent idea provided that the teachers have the skills to teach it. I think there is a danger that it won't be taught well in some schools if they don't have a member of staff who can lead and develop this aspect of ICT.

I love coding, like a pp, it puts the roof over our heads and the food on our table because it's OH's job.

Dd2's school have been using programmable bugs for ages, certainly since she was in year 1. They have to program it to complete a set of tasks and then record the results.
Dd2 also has a raspberry pi and her and OH spend ages arguing over it. He also taught her a bit of HTML and she has a website about snow leopards that she has sent round the family.

Coding teaches logic, discipline and patience - all good experiences.

It also teaches accuracy and reviewing your work to identify and resolves problems.

Not convinced, but what are they actually going to teach?
The principles behind a logical sequence, and achieving an end point: fine
C++ (or whatever is used these days) language, like they teach french: pointless.

Do we have the staff in the schools with the ability to teach this properly?

I think this is a good way to learn lots of skills. Problem solving, numeracy, memory and probably many more. I would have found it well boring but it may have assisted me to be more technologically able?

I'm a software developer, the only female in the team of 12. It's a good career to go into at present as it's in demand, pays reasonably well and can be a stable job with clear progression or higher risk and reward contract work. It's also good for fitting with family life, as you can usually have flexibility with hours and working from home without too much hassle.

I think introducing programming in schools is a fantastic idea, as it is a practical and fun application (pun intended) of skills such as maths and logic. Hopefully it won't just be portrayed as making games however, as there are many other uses for coding covering areas as diverse as data storage to simulation.

I think the introduction of coding is a great idea - but I am struggling to see how it is going to be taught. The teachers at my child's school confess to knowing absolutely nothing about coding. I am at a loss to know how they are going to teach it and to enthuse students. I have no problem with it being taught to 5 yr olds, but I think finding an appropriate method (which is able to sustain their interest!) will be key to making it successful.

Schools will be using things like this www.tts-group.co.uk/shops/tts/Products/PD1723538/Bee-Bot-Floor-Robot/

addictedtosugar - it will be the former, as I agree the latter is not helpful.

I think my DS1 will be quite keen and I'm hoping it will be a fun thing for him to do. I haven't yet met a kid who doesn't like to play with phones/tablets etc so the idea of them actually being able to write apps will probably have instant appeal.

I loved writing programmes as a child on a BBC computer, nothing fancy and always involved flashing cyan and magenta! I didn't have computers at school until year six and wrote my dissertation on a typewriter ('twas electric) I think it's fantastic for children to be able to learn to code, it's a skill that I think will be essential in the very near future.

I think they'd be better off sticking to logic and leaving syntax to later.
It would be good if they could also cover object orientation.

i think if you want to get in to coding its something you need to get into at a super young age else you've got no chance. i dont think it should be a part of the curriculum, it's not something that will interest every single person. maybe one in a class will find it useful if that, maybe an extra curricular activity.