learning and teaching coding in today’s world

In my sophomore year of high school I took my first coding class. I’d wanted to learn coding for a while, but I was actually nervous about it because at the time I identified as a girl, and coding felt like a boys thing. This was like 2015? I can’t believe I still felt this ay then! Even being a feminist and wanting to challenge gender roles, the idea of being in this class scared me for some reason!

There did end up being two other girls in that java programming class that I ended up getting pretty close with, Lydia and Riley. We sat in a little row in the computer lab and bounced ideas off each other. Lydia was a freshman and got into coding because she knew it could make a lot of money. Riley was a senior and going to college for a degree in math the next year. She got into coding because she knew it would be useful in her field. I think my two friends were a perfect representation of the two different opinions I see on learning to code these days- that you should learn either because its useful, or because its lucrative. 

But there’s a third option. Learning to code because you want to know how to code! Obviously not everyone is going to want to know how to code, but I do think coding can be valuable knowledge to almost anyone as it can be applied to interest or hobbies you already have. Coding for web design in particular is perfect, as you can create a website for any interest you have. You can code tools that apply to your interests, create galleries, make music, and even create art! I think when teaching coding, it would be helpful to let the primary focus be whatever the student is interested in doing with code. From there, the teacher could find ways to work whatever was necessary to their learning into a ciriculum that the two create together. This would generate more enthusiasm towards their learning, and in turn help them to be more successful, and potentially help steer them away from going into a field that makes them money, but also makes them miserable. 

I don’t plan on going in to teaching, but I do really enjoy thinking up ways to make learning more interesting and fulfilling in the US public school system, where everything is about preparing you for a future that feels a million miles away.  I’m also aware that my proposed method of teaching might not be practical… but hey, if we always stuck to what was considered practical, how would we ever create change?