BY PAUL JUNOR
As student’s head back to school in September, elementary students in Ontario will be starting a new math curriculum. This curriculum that was introduced in June 2020 has introduced coding as one of the expectations for all grade one students (www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca). The Ministry of Education acknowledged that the acquisition of coding skills will prepare students for careers in computer science.
In order, for grade one students to be familiar with coding concepts they need to know what coding is. It is often called programming. It is basically the computer instructional language that is used to program digital technologies.
According to careerkarma.com, it is “The process of creating instruction for computers. It is used to program: websites, apps and other technologies we interact with every day.” It can be, “Any code written in language to be understood by the person or system it is meant for.”
The learning goals that grade one students need to acquire are: solve problems and create computational representation of mathematical situations by writing and executing code, including code that involves mathematical supports.
They will also learn how to read and alter existing code, including code that involves sequential events and describe how changed to the code affects the outcomes.
In order to attain these specific expectations, students will be engaged in learning opportunities that will help them to understand that in coding there is “A sequential set of instructions executed in order.” Furthermore, they will explore mathematical concepts such as, ‘The associative property,’ where the sequence of instructions does not matter as in 6+3=3+6, as well as learning ways to manipulate and control the outcome of the code.”(www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca).
Ten benefits have been identified for students. These include:
- Make your own website
- Have a career in coding
- Start your own venture
- Understanding how a computer works
- You will have a whole new set of possibilities
- Pursue it as a hobby
- Earn more and work for fewer hours
- It is a skill that is always relevant
- Improve your digital literacy
- You can work remotely
Students in grade one will be introduced to the basics of coding. They do not need to learn coding languages such as: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Angular and JS. They may learn about Python at Python.com. They will learn how a computer functions, and what is involved when using mobiles, laptops and applications. If they grasp the basics well, they can go on to build applications and software as well as develop games. It provides them an opportunity to work independently on projects as freelance developers.
There are many free online resources available to help your kids learn about coding. They include
- Code Avengers
- Codeacademy.com
- Coursera
- Free Code Camp
- Hours of Code
- Khan Avademy
- Mimo
- MIT
- Open Course
- PyLadies and other meetups
- Swift Playgrounds
- Treehouse
- Visual Studio Code
- WPBeginner
- YouTube and edX (developed by Harvard and MIT)
(Scott Gerber, founder of Young Entrepreneur Council www.business.com)
