Comment Kids should at least be familiar with coding. (Score 1) 306
I feel kids should at least be familiar with coding. Learning how computers execute instructions and do what they do is akin to learning about how oxygen combines with fuel in combustion in a science class, or how cells divide in a biology class.
They don't have to know extreme detail, just have a basic idea of how the world works. And in today's world that includes computers.
The language doesn't even matter. Even old-school BASIC is a good language to use for the class, because it's easy to understand and the results are instant. Just enter some lines and type RUN.
It's not like we have to each the kids all about complex APIs, GUI programming, networking and so on. Just teach them enough to get rid of the feeling that the computer is a "magic box" that they have no idea how it works.