I tried to comment on the article but the comment form wasn't working with chrome or firefox, but: The article is forgetting a couple of things - in the real-w

I tried to comment on the article but the comment form wasn't working with chrome or firefox, but: The article is forgetting a couple of things - in the real-world you also have a purpose, a goal for what you are trying to create or a problem you are trying to solve. You also have a wealth of background and tacit knowledge about the constraints and affordances of programming. If you just had students mimic the actions of how programming is done in the real world, they would be doing it without understanding the reason for it. Another point: none of this is new - there is actually a field of study for education research. Search for example for "problem-based learning" for more information on approaches in education that have students work on real-world, messy problems.