In Finland, Kids Learn Computer Science Without Computers(theatlantic.com)
theatlantic.com
In Finland, Kids Learn Computer Science Without Computers
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/02/teaching-computer-science-without-computers/517548/
3 comments
Clickbait. This is not quite the same as teaching Apple II LOGO turtlegraphics, which was taught to me in private elementary (primary) school around grade 2 (7-8 years old). It teaches sequences and repetition, but neither paradigm nor pair of concepts are Turing complete so I wouldn't call them "programming." Perhaps if they built on foundation concepts in subsequent grades, then that would be respectable. Btw, here's a SpaceWars game in Apple II LOGO using the full language. [0]
PS: Once upon a time, Finland turned around their education system from being one of the worst to being one of the best, by among many other changes, eliminating many multiple choice tests and homework that weren't adding value to overall education quality. Michael Moore showcased this in one of his documentaries, Where to Invade Next?
0. https://paleotronic.com/2018/09/27/ancient-tongues-logo-spac...
PS: Once upon a time, Finland turned around their education system from being one of the worst to being one of the best, by among many other changes, eliminating many multiple choice tests and homework that weren't adding value to overall education quality. Michael Moore showcased this in one of his documentaries, Where to Invade Next?
0. https://paleotronic.com/2018/09/27/ancient-tongues-logo-spac...
computers are really full of distractions
Finland is doing the right thing, and they’re not teaching coding completely without computers.
there’s a logical model for programming - how to divide and conquer, this is not just related to algorithms but to every programming task.
And I’ve seen enough people who don’t have this mindset trying to code to know that despite sounding extremely simple, it is a vital subject to enable more people to start coding. Kudos to Finland for focusing on the logical aspect of programming, which are much more transferable than knowledge of certain language APIs.