[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #544: Coding at an early age

Wed May 31 10:30:05 EDT 2017

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OPLIN 4cast #544: Coding at an early age
May 31st, 2017

[image: Baby wearing glasses using laptop] Back in January, the American
Library Association published a report
<http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/pp/Ready_To_Code_Report_FINAL.pdf>
[pdf] on the activities of school and public libraries aimed at teaching
children to write computer code. The report focused on children of school
age, but in the marketplace you can find books and educational toys that
teach coding to children as young as 3 years old. Is there really an
advantage to starting children on coding this early? Does your library have
coding books or activities for preschoolers?

   -
   - Coding class, then naptime: Computer science for the kindergarten set
   <http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/09/18/441122285/learning-to-code-in-preschool>
   (NPR | Anya Kamenetz)  “‘If we were teaching coding like reading and math,
   we would break it down into bite-size chunks, make it more fun with songs
   and stories, and give students two decades to reach mastery,’ [entrepreneur
   Grant] Hosford says. ‘With coding we throw you in the deep end in high
   school or college and are surprised when most kids drown.’ According to
   this thinking, the skill sets required for coding and the three Rs will all
   reinforce each other.”
   - Robot storytime: Coding for preschoolers
   <http://www.programminglibrarian.org/blog/robot-storytime-coding-preschoolers>
   (Programming Librarian | Jenn Carson)  “For our first two programs we
   invited children ages 5 to 10 and their families, but we got kids as young
   as 3 who came, just to test it out. The older kids helped the younger kids
   (and the parents!). Our next step will be to introduce Cubetto to our
   younger set at a preschool storytime and to do some outreach by bringing
   Cubetto to our local daycares.”
   - How will next-gen workers learn? Look to preschool
   <http://www.talenteconomy.io/2016/11/09/preschool-education-future-of-work/>
   (Talent Economy | Lauren Dixon)  “But is coding at 4 years old too early?
   ‘I think the idea of having preschoolers learn coding is pretty crazy,’
   said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
   <http://www.edexcellence.net/>, an education research institution in
   Washington, D.C., adding that the skills should be learned at an older age.
   However, teaching children to code early on lends them more time to build
   on that basic education, potentially creating a generation that contains
   more highly educated computer scientists than we have now.”
   - Why children should NOT be taught to code
   <https://davidbuckingham.net/2015/07/13/why-children-should-not-be-taught-to-code/>
   (David Buckingham)  “The argument [that coding is a means of teaching
   logical thinking] depends upon assumptions about learning transfer – the
   idea that learning in one context will automatically transfer across to
   others. This is to conceive of the brain as a kind of muscle: a good
   workout in the coding gym will have payoffs when we need our logical
   thinking skills to solve problems elsewhere. Similar claims are often made
   for learning the game of chess, or Latin. Yet there is no convincing
   evidence that learning computer programming enables children to develop
   more general problem-solving skills, let alone that it will ‘teach you how
   to think’, as its advocates claim.”

*Articles from Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - The effect of science activities on concept acquisition of age 5-6
   children groups.
   <http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=84771564>
   (*Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice*, Autumn 2012, p.3011-3024 |
   Mustafa Doğru and Fatih Şeker)
   - Code generation.
   <http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sch&AN=97941771>
   (*New Scientist*, 9/6/2014, p.38-41 | Niall Firth)
   - The best in tech at Toy Fair.
   <http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=122345152>
   (*School Library Journal*, April 2017, p.19 | Kristina Holzweiss)

------------------------------
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