Today, December 9, is the beginning of Computer Science Education Week, observed each year in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (born December 9, 1906). Code.org, a non-profit dedicated to promoting computer science education, is encouraging every K-12 student in America to join an “Hour of Code.”
Steve Jobs believed that “I think everyone should learn how to program a computer, because it teaches you how to think.”
My love affair with programming started with BASIC at a local Radio Shack (see related article, Radio Shack’s TRS-80 turns 35) and later turned into C and C++ before I discovered business intelligence. My children may not follow me into engineering school and a technology profession, but I do hope that they will each learn how to do some simple programming. My twelve-year-old daughter recently took part in a one-day computer camp at a local university learning Scratch and Processing. And I recently joined my first Kickstarter for Kano, a Raspberry Pi-based computer, but it won’t arrive for her and I to put together until next summer.
In the meantime, Code.org has many resources on their web site for the Hour of Code. Consider taking an hour this week and help somebody discover programming.
Resources
- Computer Science Education Week official web site
- Code.org official web site
- Girls Who Code official web site
- Learn about Admiral Grace Hopper and her contributions to computing on Wikipedia
- Processing programming
- Scratch programming
- Why Pushing People to Code Will Widen the Gap Between Rich and Poor, by Jathan Sadowski in Wired magazine
