Post Category → science and technology

Coding for Lifelong Learning

At a recent TEDx event, Mitch Resnick, director of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, presents the case that learning to code is an essential skill all children need to learn.

In the first part of his talk, Resnick argues against the tired old belief (excuse?), held by so many teachers, that kids are far more tech savvy than they will ever be.

All of us have heard young people referred to as “digital natives”. But actually, I’m sorta skeptical of this term. I’m not so sure we should be thinking of young people as digital natives.

There’s no doubt that young people are very comfortable and familiar with browsing and chatting and texting and gaming. But that doesn’t make you fluent.

Young people today have lots of experience and lots of familiarity with interacting with new technologies but a lot less so with creating with new technologies, and expressing themselves with new technologies. It’s almost as if they can read but not write with new technologies.

He goes on to discuss how we expect kids to become fluent at reading and writing the written word and we should also be helping students learn how to effectively create with new technologies, not to improve their consuming skills.

However, just as we don’t teach reading and writing so kids will be come professional writers – very few will follow that path – we should also have other, higher goals in mind when teaching the process of coding.

Again the same thing with coding. Most people won’t grow up to be professional computer scientists or programmers. But those skills of thinking creatively, reasoning systematically, working collaboratively, skills you develop when you code in Scratch [the programming interface for young people developed by his group] are things people can use no matter what they’re doing in their work lives.

Watch the whole thing for more of his ideas and a look at some new Scratch features coming soon.

A Dangerous Combination

Following up on yesterday's rant about the science ignorance of one of our wanna be leaders, Valerie Strauss in the Post's Answer Sheet blog notes that Senator Rubio also is a supporter of STEM education.

A focus on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects will ensure that America remains highly competitive in the global market. Systemic reform with school choice, virtual learning and opportunity scholarships will allow STEM-focused students to study the critical subject areas that will help them succeed in our economy.

Strauss finds great irony in the fact that Rubio “sees a STEM education crisis while misunderstanding basic scientific findings”.

I think irony may be too forgiving. This is scientific ignorance plus hypocracy, a combination that seems to occur together in too many American politicians.

 

The Right Answer

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, someone who is supposed to be a front runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016*, was asked in an interview “How old do you think the Earth is?”.

His answer:

I’m not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I’m not a scientist. I don’t think I’m qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.

I’m also not qualified to answer a question like that but I know how to locate the best information available, so as most intelligent, non-scientists would tell you, the correct reply is “I’ll have to Google that.”

There may be “multiple theories” on the age and origins of the universe, but the only ones that should be taught in science classes are those backed by evidence, not myths and legends.

* The fact than anyone is making that assessment two weeks after the previous election is very depressing.

Looking into The Future

The latest edition of the Wall Street Journal Weekend Interview is with Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist who is one of the great living explainers of science. (One bit of evidence for that opinion is his talk from several years ago, The World in 2030.)

In the article he offers some predictions for the next hundred years, based on content from his latest book, including the little gem that “By 2020, the word “computer” will have vanished from the English language.”

Anyway, while Kaku’s thoughts about science and how it will impact the future are very interesting, I really loved his pithy comments on education and the value to society created by certain jobs.

“I have nothing against investment banking,” Mr. Kaku says, “but it’s like massaging money rather than creating money. If you’re in physics, you create inventions, you create lasers, you create transistors, computers, GPS.” If you’re an investment banker, on the other hand, “you don’t create anything new. You simply massage other people’s money and take a cut.”

It’s a shame, because Mr. Kaku believes humans are natural-born scientists. “When we’re born, we want to know why the stars shine. We want to know why the sun rises.” But then we hit “the danger years” for young people: high school. “And we lose them by the millions–literally by the millions. Why? It’s a combination of bad teachers and no inspiration.”

I would only add to that combination the science curriculum, not just in high school, with it’s heavy emphasis on memorizing facts instead of experimentation and discovery.

Revealing the Science Conspiracy

In a well-written and very funny six minutes, Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi demonstrates why the best efforts of science educators are being undermined by adult stupidity.

Why does any thinking person listen to that woman? Oh, yeah, I forgot. She’s on Fox “news”, where science is whatever the script writers say it is.