Teaching Kids Computer Science Is Possible Regardless of Access to Technology
Finland is paving the way for children to learn computer science — an inarguably valuable skill for those growing up in the 21st century — and they don’t require a single computer in the classroom to do so.
The approach is certainly revolutionary, and calls for a basic understanding of coding from all teachers, from math to art. The idea is to impose the knowledge of the way computer’s work by associating it with tasks such as movement, crafts, and even storytelling.
A dance sequence or a knitting pattern become metaphors for coding, loop, and sequences. Small changes in the routine are examples of modifications. This technique broadens the way children observe every day tasks and prepares them for speaking the language of coding.
In The Atlantic article by Emily Deruy, titled, In Finland, Kids Learn Computer Science Without Computers, readers are introduced to Linda Liukas, Finnish programmer, author, illustrator, and creator of the children’s coding series Hello Ruby. Liukas works with teachers to demystify programming and train them to relate common activities to coding.
Coding and programming are staples of the curriculum in Finland now, and even without a single computer at hand, these methods teach children to relate computer science to their lives in a multitude of ways. This is a far cry from simply understanding how to work a Macbook — Liukas stresses the difference between knowing how to use something and knowing how something works, key to digital literacy.
It’s easy, for example, for a baby to navigate an iPad, but much more complex for someone to program it to work in such user-friendly ways. The skills required to understand computer science can be applied beyond the use of coding, as they strengthen areas such as cooperation, creativity, storytelling, and problem solving.
“Even the biggest problems in the world are just tiny problems stuck together,” Samuel Abrams, Columbia University professor, tells The Atlantic. His philosophy, hard to argue with, supports the idea that understanding computer science can translate into valuable life skills.
Now, educators are beginning to wonder how these techniques, developed in Finland, can be adapted for educators in other countries such as the United States. Others would like to argue that it would be too difficult to do so.
In truth, the U.S. does differ dramatically from Finland when it comes to educational resources. Teachers in Finland are paid more, have smaller classrooms, are granted more exclusive positions, and are trained, as Abrams puts it, to be “a guide on the side as opposed to a sage on the stage.”
That said, these should not be deterrents to improving educational techniques and striving for educational reform in the U.S. that includes the Finnish model for computer science lessons. While the results of these methods may still be undefined since the techniques are fairly new, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist — or a computer programmer — to understand why coding and programming skills are essential for a generation of people who are growing up in a deeply digital world.
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