4 ms·

Yea? Are they going to teach programming with pencil and paper?

by throwaway-1x9 9y ago

jrimbault 9y ago
How do you teach programming without pencil and paper ?
- leadingthenet 9y ago
  On laptops? You do know they have the ability to keep notes, right?
  - apotheothesomai 9y ago
    How long does it take to draw diagrams and modify and annotate them over time on note taking apps? You can do it in seconds by hand. The situation applies to drawing arrows between phrases and such too. For some things, the simple way is the best. It's not one or the other, even in the classroom. Computers didn't kill handwriting or print, and latter don't hinder the use of computers. They all complement each other. Useless tangent: In my experience (= K-12 + 10 years at universities) the best way to lock things in ones head is to take quick handwritten notes and then reread, correct, and enter them as notes on one's computer.
    - leadingthenet 9y ago
      I didn't make myself clear. I agree, I use pen and paper every day to complement my laptop use, and it's miles better for some things than can be accomplished digitally even today. It's still doable to only have a laptop and use that for everything, if not practical or quick enough in many cases. Pen and paper is nice to have, but it's not 100% required.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- macspoofing 9y ago
  Programming is not the backbone of primary education and you shouldn't design a education curriculum around a niche subject. Primary education is for teaching literacy, history, and arithmetic not a trade. But you can certainly teach programming with pencil and paper. Some of the most influential programmers in history of computer science did not do their work on physical computers or used (now) esoteric methods like punch-cards as input. Several of my university CS classes were all pencil and paper, especially midterms and exams.
matthew349hall 9y ago
Are they really going to teach programming on an iPad? For sure they have the beginner puzzle stuff you find on Code.org, but to really learn code you can't use an iPad or a Chromebook for that matter.
scribu 9y ago
Since you brought up programming, iPads don’t seem like the best tool for writing code. Even if you get a physical keyboard, are there any mature apps for writing and executing code on the device?
- throwaway-1x9 9y ago
  They probably aren’t the best. But there is a decreasing amount of desktop users in that age range. It seems that we need to build mature apps for writing on device.
leadingthenet 9y ago
Neither is an iPad, frankly. Yes, yes, I know, Swift Playgrounds. Not convinced.
- macspoofing 9y ago
  And you shouldn't be convinced. Are there any studies that show any sort of educational benefit of 'Swift Playgrounds'?
RobertDeNiro 9y ago
For the most part that's actually how it was thaught in my university.
macspoofing 9y ago
They could. It would probably go as well as teaching programming on an iPad. And programming really isn't the backbone of primary education. We're graduating kids who can't read.

Yea? Are they going to teach programming with pencil and paper?

jrimbault 9y ago

How do you teach programming without pencil and paper ?

leadingthenet 9y ago
On laptops? You do know they have the ability to keep notes, right?
- apotheothesomai 9y ago
  How long does it take to draw diagrams and modify and annotate them over time on note taking apps? You can do it in seconds by hand. The situation applies to drawing arrows between phrases and such too. For some things, the simple way is the best. It's not one or the other, even in the classroom. Computers didn't kill handwriting or print, and latter don't hinder the use of computers. They all complement each other. Useless tangent: In my experience (= K-12 + 10 years at universities) the best way to lock things in ones head is to take quick handwritten notes and then reread, correct, and enter them as notes on one's computer.
  - leadingthenet 9y ago
    I didn't make myself clear. I agree, I use pen and paper every day to complement my laptop use, and it's miles better for some things than can be accomplished digitally even today. It's still doable to only have a laptop and use that for everything, if not practical or quick enough in many cases. Pen and paper is nice to have, but it's not 100% required.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
macspoofing 9y ago
Programming is not the backbone of primary education and you shouldn't design a education curriculum around a niche subject. Primary education is for teaching literacy, history, and arithmetic not a trade. But you can certainly teach programming with pencil and paper. Some of the most influential programmers in history of computer science did not do their work on physical computers or used (now) esoteric methods like punch-cards as input. Several of my university CS classes were all pencil and paper, especially midterms and exams.

matthew349hall 9y ago

Are they really going to teach programming on an iPad? For sure they have the beginner puzzle stuff you find on Code.org, but to really learn code you can't use an iPad or a Chromebook for that matter.

scribu 9y ago

Since you brought up programming, iPads don’t seem like the best tool for writing code. Even if you get a physical keyboard, are there any mature apps for writing and executing code on the device?

throwaway-1x9 9y ago
They probably aren’t the best. But there is a decreasing amount of desktop users in that age range. It seems that we need to build mature apps for writing on device.

leadingthenet 9y ago

Neither is an iPad, frankly. Yes, yes, I know, Swift Playgrounds. Not convinced.

macspoofing 9y ago
And you shouldn't be convinced. Are there any studies that show any sort of educational benefit of 'Swift Playgrounds'?

RobertDeNiro 9y ago

For the most part that's actually how it was thaught in my university.

macspoofing 9y ago

They could. It would probably go as well as teaching programming on an iPad. And programming really isn't the backbone of primary education. We're graduating kids who can't read.