tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post6874522423249563287..comments2024-03-22T06:05:36.544-04:00Comments on Kids Prefer Cheese: Computer ScienceMungowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340064320347875601noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-68764927872288549432014-02-21T03:48:00.525-05:002014-02-21T03:48:00.525-05:00My public high school had a computer science depar...My public high school had a computer science department. We also happened to be in one of the wealthiest counties in the country. Not a disagreement with you, just a comment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-5522904262029930092014-02-20T12:51:25.248-05:002014-02-20T12:51:25.248-05:00Tom, I learned a lot about operating computers fro...Tom, I learned a lot about operating computers from having one on hand growing up. It was a huge blessing and definitely gave me an advantage in life. But that's still a very different skill set from programming (what we <i>generally</i> mean by Computer Science), which I learned little of before college. There is overlap, and some people pick it up naturally, but it's complex and sometimes non-intuitive. It is precisely the sort of thing that can be taught well or taught poorly. Just my experience/view.<br /><br />I'm not sure, though, whether teaching programming to most/all students at the secondary level of schooling is a pressing requirement. But I think teaching how to operate computers may be, and the best way is to just mess around. I just can't imagine any school system giving students such unmonitored access to their computers.John Covilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16791564966801146755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-11089495779586337942014-02-18T17:27:01.726-05:002014-02-18T17:27:01.726-05:00"The computers are old or outdated."
Th..."The computers are old or outdated."<br /><br />That is a weird complaint as to why they can't teach computer science: I think computer science was the same thing on the old computers as it is on the new ones!gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-19526556347100447802014-02-18T10:56:58.016-05:002014-02-18T10:56:58.016-05:00So ninety percent of schools don't teach progr...So ninety percent of schools don't teach programming (and most of the<br />rest teach it poorly), so "your kids aren't going to have the<br />preparation they need..." Ha! (This <b>IS</b> meant to be a joke,<br />right?)<br /><br />Right? Meanwhile, at least two education experimenters provided<br />computers to kids with computers and absolutely no instruction on their use. (Standard, English language computers to kids who do not speak English!) In remarkably short times, the kids mastered the machines to the point where they could re-enable functions that the donors had thought were forbidden. (Most recent example is <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2013/10/27/kids-should-hack-their-school-provided-i" rel="nofollow">here</a>.)<br /><br />The trouble is not in the kids; it is in the schools.<br />Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08574355302581451838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-69848980505312619812014-02-18T09:13:16.053-05:002014-02-18T09:13:16.053-05:00When the resources are bestowed upon the instituti...When the resources are bestowed upon the institution rather than the student, then the environment for shenanigans to occur is greatly increased. The power purveyors of the institution turn the resource flow into a spongy conduit rewarding themselves first and students last. Over time less and less resources arrive in the class room for the student’s benefit and more and more resources are direct to the power purveyors of the institution. <br /><br />One is merely viewing the classic case of a collective, where ever increasing inputs produce ever decreasing outputs, shirk increases, all the while power purveyors of the collective concentrate on enriching themselves. Same song, different beat.<br /><br />Maybe the NPR gang would benefit from a remarkably short yet extremely insightful book by Harold Demsetz entitled From Economic Man to Economic System.W.E. Heasleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00368333904571061995noreply@blogger.com