The Department for Education’s announcement that computer science could be included within the science options for the English Baccalaureate, to not be confused with last week’s announcement to maintain the GCSE qualification, was welcome news for individuals who want the nation’s school children to go from being digital consumers to digital creators. It was a vital milestone in a two year campaign that began with Nesta’s Next Gen report and was passionately led by Ian Livingstone and Alex Hope with a variety of industry partners.
As I’ve discussed here before, it is extremely important that creative computing becomes as essential component to the varsity curriculum and last week’s announcement was an incredible leap forward. Further still, there’s the hope that it not just inspires those considering the EBacc, but that it improves the general quality of computer science teaching and student involvement.
We now ought to take a look at how computing may be taught in a sense that inspires teens to benefit through making. There are lessons we will learn from the success of initiatives outside of college that support students to be informed or improve programming skills. Organisations like Young Rewired State, Apps for Good, Code Club and Mozilla WebMaker show how solving real problems and harnessing creativity can inspire kids to need to grasp computational thinking and programming.
We may also draw inspiration from our heritage as a superb computing nation. We’ve a history on the forefront of computing, from Ada Lovelace’s work at the analytical engine to Tim Berners-Lee’s creation of the sector wide web – which celebrates twenty years within the public domain on 30th April this year. Yet people which include Lovelace or Berners-Lee aren’t a part of the national consciousness within the same way as Shakespeare, Brunel or Lennon.
Even contemporary role models are ignored. The subsequent Gen report showed just a tiny proportion of schoolchildren knew that the likes of Grand Theft Auto, Lego Star Wars and Singstar were created within the UK, with the bulk believing that they were produced in either the united states or Japan. It’s time we celebrated our success in engineering, digital media and games as loudly as we celebrate our success in other creative industries. If we’re to inspire a generation to be the creators of a better multi-billion pound computer game, ARM microprocessor or Hollywood visual effects artist, we have to give them heroes they will aspire to emulate.
Last week’s second big announcement regarding computing in schools came from another British success story, the Raspberry Pi. Google and Raspberry Pi have committed to provide 15,000 Raspberry Pis to varsity children around the UK. Nesta’s recent report Decoding Learning showed that no technology has an impact on learning in its own right and the report cautioned against seeing any single technology as an answer to education. Nevertheless, i locate this an exhilarating development since the Raspberry Pi is a makers’ tool. You are able to discover ways to code on any PC with a browser, however the Raspberry Pi has a low enough price point that it may be used to create programmable gadgets from motion-detecting cameras to internet connected weather sensors and more. The potential of making something physical using computing immediately opens your mind to the creative opportunities that somewhat code may give you. Creativity is prime.
I’m delighted that computer science goes to learn in classrooms, and that its rigour as a discipline have been recognised. But beyond rigour I’m all for the facility of computing to link science and art; creativity and engineering. The announcement from the dept for Education generally is a watershed moment when the 1st generation of schoolchildren moves from being digital consumers to digital creators. But we have to excite children in regards to the art in addition to the science of computing. How one can try this is to benefit from Britain’s digital heroes and to make fun, exciting and useful things.
Nesta shall be continuing to search in-depth at these areas as we aim to collect great partnerships and concepts so they can give everyone the chance to be a digital maker. As Tim Berners-Lee famously said “this is often for everybody”. It’s now time for everybody to get entangled.
Tom Kenyon, programme director of the education in a digital environment programme at Nesta.
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