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| From | Will Honea <whonea@whonea.net> |
|---|---|
| Subject | Re: Why Johnny can?t code |
| Newsgroups | comp.misc |
| References | <jCWo060GWCUx8svQg454q6sz@dont-email.me> |
| Message-ID | <wtpNv.60359$Y4.11270@fx24.iad> (permalink) |
| Organization | TeraNews.com |
| Date | 2014-09-02 14:08 -0600 |
Rich wrote: > http://www.salon.com/2006/09/14/basic_2/ > > For three years - ever since my son Ben was in fifth grade - he and I > have engaged in a quixotic but determined quest: We've searched for a > simple and straightforward way to get the introductory programming > language BASIC to run on either my Mac or my PC. > > Why on Earth would we want to do that, in an era of glossy > animation-rendering engines, game-design ogres and sophisticated avatar > worlds? Because if you want to give young students a grounding in how > computers actually work, there's still nothing better than a little > experience at line-by-line programming. > > Only, quietly and without fanfare, or even any comment or notice by > software pundits, we have drifted into a situation where almost none of > the millions of personal computers in America offers a line-programming > language simple enough for kids to pick up fast. Not even the one that > was a software lingua franca on nearly all machines, only a decade or > so ago. And that is not only a problem for Ben and me; it is a problem > for our nation and civilization. > Rich, you are putting the cart before the horse. The task is NOT to teach a beginner to code! Rather, your effort is much better spent teaching him how to PROGRAM. The language is largely irrelevant - every developer will tell you that coding is the effort to implement a program and language is just one of the tools used achieve that end. You hit a nerve with your question - I would love to have back all the hours I've used over the years teaching coders who didn't know what their objective was... -- Will Honea
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Why Johnny can?t code Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-02 10:02 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2014-09-02 12:23 +0100
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-09-02 14:43 +0100
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-09-02 16:40 +0200
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2014-09-03 12:43 +1000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us (Scott Alfter) - 2014-09-02 15:17 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-09-02 18:24 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-02 21:01 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code greymaus <greymausg@mail.com> - 2014-09-03 14:55 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2014-09-03 18:04 +0100
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2014-09-03 14:38 -0400
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-03 19:55 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2014-09-03 17:33 -0400
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-03 21:35 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us (Scott Alfter) - 2014-09-04 15:24 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-04 20:17 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-02 18:56 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-09-03 20:59 +0200
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-02 18:45 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-09-02 20:50 +0100
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-09-03 21:05 +0200
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-09-02 16:56 +0200
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2014-09-02 16:09 +0100
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2014-09-04 14:57 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Gordon Henderson <gordon+usenet@drogon.net> - 2014-09-04 15:24 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can't code Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2014-09-05 02:33 -0300
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Will Honea <whonea@whonea.net> - 2014-09-02 14:08 -0600
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-02 20:55 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-02 21:02 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Will Honea <whonea@whonea.net> - 2014-09-02 23:07 -0600
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-04 10:58 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-04 11:09 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-04 11:17 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Will Honea <whonea@whonea.net> - 2014-09-04 22:58 -0600
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-05 11:38 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Will Honea <whonea@whonea.net> - 2014-09-05 13:55 -0600
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-05 20:02 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-09-04 14:28 +0300
Re: Why Johnny can?t code RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> - 2014-09-04 20:27 +0100
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-04 19:55 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Will Honea <whonea@whonea.net> - 2014-09-04 22:50 -0600
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-05 11:37 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2014-09-05 13:05 +0100
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-05 15:22 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Will Honea <whonea@whonea.net> - 2014-09-05 13:48 -0600
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-05 20:09 +0000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2014-09-03 12:26 +1000
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Bruce Horrocks <07.013@scorecrow.com> - 2014-09-04 00:34 +0100
Re: Why Johnny can?t code Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2014-09-04 15:01 +0000
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