W07: Activity 3

#7 - I am being influenced from having watched the film Transcendence last night, but afterwards I had a discussion with my friend about the film and the issues it raises and believe that the development and evolution of ¨smart¨ code is actually a very likely possibility and in some ways I am surprised that this does not already exist. As Milorad and Kendra mentioned, this is already a path that we have started down in some way, so it is likely to be an area that will grow in the coming years. To think of how much code has already evolved in allowing us to do more complex work, it should eventually evolve so that the level of complexity we have today will eventually be completed in a much easier manner.

@sheljon@brendanclark@karalea very interesting that you would all support the integration of code education into the k-12 curriculum but have different perspectives on the viability of that. I wonder if that is due to the differing perceptions of code as a language. If code was redefined as a language rather than a technical skill if this would change perceptions. Is programming an aspect of digital literacy which is being emphasized in 21st Century Learning across the nation (http://www.actioncanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/TF2-Report_Future-Tense_EN.pdf). @sheljon, would this change your perspective on whether code would be mandated in curriculum?

#6 I can see this integrated more at the high school level. Although I can see the benefits for younger students, I don't see this as being a reality. I have recently been a part of curriculum redesign for our province at the Elementary level, and technology integration is a part of the curriculum but still lacks direction. Teacher tech education, access to technology and an already heavy curriculum are some of the obstacles I forsee. At the high school level it is easier to offer it as an option and trained, passionate, teachers can be chosen for these courses. Within my own district, many of our teachers still uncomfortable using technology and rarely use it within their teaching practice. To jump to code instruction would be overwhelming for these instructors. With this being said, one of my colleagues has a class set of computers donated through a provincial program, and does have his students using simple programs such as Scratch to design games. I see pockets of this happening but I can't see mandated code integration happening at a state or provincial level in the forseeable future.

Curriculum integration may be one of the few ways to tackle the lack of diversity issues in the coding community. I've read many posts which discuss coding education at the high school level but I could see coding education introduced even younger. Successful language programs in school often begin early and coding young could benefit as well. Access to technology and literacy are needed to begin learning code which obviously limits how early code education can begin, but introducing problem solving in coding contexts is possible in a traditional learning environment. This ties in greatly with #4's personalized learning. The quick pace at which coding languages progress and change require curriculum to be open-ended, students from year to year could enter a very different coding world but with some early education, they may be able to adapt to these changes.

I would like to speak to Curriculum Integration. I read several articles talking about a lack of computer programming and computer science in schools and how not having it as a focus in High Schools is turning out to be a disservice to many young students who are interested. I know we would all agree that adding more items to the already jam packed curriculum is challenging but I feel like programming and coding is an important one to offer. This is definitely the way of the future (in fact it is clearly the now) and we need to keep up. Like anything we need to provide students with as many learning environments and opportunities as possible, so I support this being integrated into todays curriculum especially in the High School/University focus. Links I found http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/giving-students-credit-for-programming-classes/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 As well as this fun YouTube video (Please excuse me if someone else posted this already…There are so many comments I didn't go through everyones!…Enjoy!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIu9yen5nc

@Shaun, @Milorad, @Kendra, @Danielle, @Laura, and @Chris. I too am caught up by the idea behind #7 Smart code as an interesting potential horizon to empower users. I mentioned in a previous post that for me, this is sort of like making Legos or LittleBits out of code in a way, modularizing and making it visual and manipulable for every-day people. For me this is a 'general solution' that can be applied to many different areas that has the potential to shift the power of experts to non-experts (even if just partially). Or, since there perhaps will always need to be 'experts' to build and engineer these building blocks, it perhaps just provides a more negotiable terrain for the main-streaming of code and code-education. As information increases we find ways to adapt to manage it, so it makes a certain amount of sense that as code languages continue to proliferate, we find ways to make navigational tools for this also. There are other valid horizons here too though, it's very informative to read everyone's different insights on them!

My personal opinion is that the general public should use the front-end side that smart code allows for. Smart code is great for everyday people who want to use the front-end side of an application but doesn't respect that people still need to be trained on back-end application. For the back end there needs to be a delivery method so people who are looking to gain skill full employment can get the skills needed to succeed in their career. My insight is that the industry will lean towards privatization. Here is a perfect example: https://stacksocial.com/sales/the-name-your-own-price-learn-to-code-bundle?aid=a-lj3950br I think compared to the other delivery methods this makes the most sense. I see 1 main reason for this. The rate of change in coding languages. Programming languages change quickly and the courses and information needs to adapt quickly. This means that new accreditation will be needed that is in a shorter cycle and offers people real-practical skills that are useful now. I think that private companies have the most motivation (financial gain) to keep a curriculum that is applicable to real-world applications. I think that all other not for private organizations may fail to keep current standards that students respect. This horizon exercise is definitely stimulating. The coding industry is interesting and extremely complex. It is made up of a bunch of different types of people who range from self-taught to university educated, from business minded to freelance artist. The problem with defining a delivery method or ideology is that there isn't a easily defined target market. This makes the experts in the field and companies wanting to hire employees all have different expectations of what is needed for the job. Creating a standardization for accreditation is a very difficult task.

6. Curriculum Integration ---Code education eventually becomes integrated into K-12, post-secondary curriculum part of “liberal arts” education as Jobs suggested; and/or, code education resources and learning begin to emerge in the workplace. I was not really able to find information about the incorporation of Code education/training for workplace environments, however I thought that this was a very interesting idea. I can see how building the capacity for young people to develop a language for code would be applicable, it is a time where they are exploring new ideas, sampling different disciplines etc and so I can see how there is great opportunity. I recall being in high school and learning about how a computer works, and binary code and I hated it, while my friends loved it.... I recall this as being a turning point where I was able to pinpoint that going into anything technical/computer was not for me. In the workplace, I think that it would be challenging and not necessarily beneficial to have personnel learn code. If you require personnel to have background and capabilities in code, then I would assume you would hire them already qualified. Where I see opportunity for code education is in free and open software products, where anyone can access the software and utilize it, and the founders really foster further development of the programming through user innovation and contribution. I think of the site Blender (http://www.blender.org/) as a great example. In addition, software and tutorials that are available online to support independent learning for those who have an interest in taking up code as a side, has also seen a significant emergence. Accessing online tutorials and videos really change the way we are able to learn at home.

I am also quite interested in #7 "Smart" Code development. By doing a research on Smart code I discovered quite interesting resource about the Programming Without Coding Technology (PWCT), advertised here: http://doublesvsoop.sourceforge.net/ on the Source Forge. PWCT is a Free-Open Source project, also the documentation and the support is free. The goal of this project is to take coding out of programming, and present programming to every computer user, whether beginners or professionals. The idea behind this new method is to mix between programming using Diagrammatic approach and programming using Form-based approach where the integration between the two approaches are done seamlessly through an Automatic Visual Representation Generation process. A novice and expert programmers can use PWCT to learn programming concepts, and to develop large software. This is a kind of new general purpose visual programming language. You can learn more on the website posted above. Regards, Milorad

The development/evolution of “smart” code Coding languages themselves will be evolved to form “smarter” more user-friendly languages, making programming and code education easier for everyone. I think this will be a major trend allowing more people to program without knowing how to code. Much like the new design of websites like weebly and wix where the programming is done for you, and as I mentioned previously, programs like Articulate Storyline that lets you create eLearning that only a couple years ago required coding or a huge learning curve, I believe we'll see "component code" (made that up) where you can...like Scratch mentioned below...you can piece together the sections to build your program.