The tech fundamentals all kids need


  • December 3, 2015
  • /   Shannon Nickinson
  • /   education

CoderDojo Pensacola honors new ninjas at a recent class. Special to the Studer Institute.

Is mathematics really the basis of life as we know it?

It is most certainly the basis for our future. But between STEM and STEAM and base-10 math theory, navigating that brave new world can be tough for parents.

As educators and education systems move increasingly into a world of technology-related acronyms, all in the name of preparing our children for the complex world that awaits them, it can be daunting.

Jordan Shapiro, a contributor to Forbes.com, posted this article, as a thoughtful look at why  computer literacy education is important, even if programming itself is not every child's cup of tea. Here's an excerpt:

To do so, all kids will need an introduction to coding—not so that they are able to code, but rather so that they are capable of truly grasping these five fundamentals.

Mathematical understanding of algorithms.  If tomorrow’s adults don’t understand precisely how algorithms use mathematics to process data, they won’t understand which part of life’s processes are best executed algorithmically and which require human decision makers.

Global Economics.  In order to be prepared for a future in which information is one of the key commodities, our children will need to understand how digital technologies impact a global economy....They need to be able to consider both the economic benefits and drawbacks of services like Uber and AirBnB. They need to be equipped to think critically about revenue models we haven’t even imagined yet.

Critical Media Literacy. If tomorrow’s adults aren’t able to acquire the necessary distance to think objectively about the ideas promoted by digital media, they won’t have the autonomy to make their own decisions. Of course, this kind of critical literacy is dependent on understanding how algorithms work, how data is analyzed, and how economies influence ideas.

Entrepreneurship and creativity. If there is one thing we know for sure, it is that we really don’t know much about the economy of the future. We can only guess which skills will be most valuable. Since we can’t train our children so that they are equipped with skills that we still haven’t imagined, we must equip them to be creative and entrepreneurial. They must be flexible and adaptable. They must be able to discover opportunities and learn they must know how to identify and learn the skills necessary to thrive.

For Pensacola area parents looking resources in this arena, don't forget the Pensacola MESS Hall, the hands-on science and math museum on Tarragona Street.

Here is museum founder Megan Pratt on why the MESS Hall is important.


The MESS Hall offers several classes to introduce coding to kids and build on their interest in it.

The University of West Florida's Innovation Institute offers CoderDojo Pensacola, classes that also are aimed at building love of computer languages in children. Check out their Facebook page here.

Tapping these and other resources is important for our community. Pratt started the MESS Hall partly as an offshoot of Science Saturdays, a project she led at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.

Back in 2006, 31 percent of Escambia’s fifth-graders scored proficient in science. The figure was 55 percent in Santa Rosa.

In 2014, 59 percent of Escambia fifth-graders and 62 percent of Santa Rosa fifth-graders earned the passing mark in science on the FCAT. 

In math for 2014, 46 percent of Escambia eighth-graders were proficient in math. In Santa Rosa, it was 70 percent.

Last year, students took a new standardized test, the Florida Standards Assessment. Scores on that test, which is mired in controversy and increasingly unpopular among Florida's school superintendents, have been shared with parents, but they can't be used for comparison.

It is a safe bet that they show the need for improvement. And improving the literacy of students in math and science is important to their prospects for high school graduation and in the workforce beyond that.

We should nurture every nerdy impulse we can muster for our children. Their future — and the future economic prospects of this community — depend on them being ready for the workforce, literate in math and science, and at ease with computers in almost every facet of their professional lives.

That may not mean every one of them will have to learn JavaScript and write their own code, but they all will need to understand the thinking behind all those 0's and 1's.

 
Your items have been added to the shopping cart. The shopping cart modal has opened and here you can review items in your cart before going to checkout