Our new Digital Literacy Computer Science Standards are encouraging amazing things to happen in elementary classrooms. Teachers are embracing the computer science aspect by integrating coding into their instruction. There are many reasons writing code is so important in today’s classrooms:
-It makes students’ thinking visible - as students begin to write simple code, educators can see their student’s thought processes. This knowledge gives us an inside glimpse into how students begin to figure out problems and take steps to resolve them.
- It sustains creativity – students have the freedom to pursue any design path for a challenge. As they increase in their knowledge of writing code, students become more efficient and precise. This knowledge can be used to build their own video games, create virtual worlds, design competition fields and obstacle courses.
- It encourages computational thinking – computational thinking is more than just using math. It involves taking the very complex and finding the main idea, data analysis, critical thinking, abstraction, automation and simulation – and yes MATH!
- It fosters Future-Ready Skills – In today’s world, everything runs by some type of computer program that was written with code. Digital literacy will be a life skill needed to be successful in the 21st century.
- It empowers students to take action – the life changers of the modern world will be the coders. Some have even called them the modern day wizards. It’s hard to believe that programs like Facebook, Twitter, and Windows were created by basically teenagers. The inventors of the future will be those who write apps and programs that make life better for everyone.
If you are interested in learning how to begin integrating coding into your classroom instruction, let me know. I would love to share ideas as I learn from some amazing teachers who are already blazing a trail with elementary robotics and coding! If you are one of those trail blazers – or just starting- let us know so we can highlight the create stuff your students are doing.