Connected Code: Why Children Need to Learn Programming (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning) - Softcover

Kafai, Yasmin B.; Burke, Quinn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 026252967X ISBN 13: 9780262529679

Publisher: The MIT Press, 2016

Synopsis

Why every child needs to learn to code: the shift from “computational thinking” to computational participation.

Coding, once considered an arcane craft practiced by solitary techies, is now recognized by educators and theorists as a crucial skill, even a new literacy, for all children. Programming is often promoted in K-12 schools as a way to encourage “computational thinking”―which has now become the umbrella term for understanding what computer science has to contribute to reasoning and communicating in an ever-increasingly digital world.

In Connected Code, Yasmin Kafai and Quinn Burke argue that although computational thinking represents an excellent starting point, the broader conception of “computational participation” better captures the twenty-first-century reality. Computational participation moves beyond the individual to focus on wider social networks and a DIY culture of digital “making.”

Kafai and Burke describe contemporary examples of computational participation: students who code not for the sake of coding but to create games, stories, and animations to share; the emergence of youth programming communities; the practices and ethical challenges of remixing (rather than starting from scratch); and the move beyond stationary screens to programmable toys, tools, and textiles.

About this title

About the Author

Yasmin B. Kafai is Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the coeditor of Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender and Gaming and coauthor of Connected Play: Tweens in a Virtual World (both published by the MIT Press). She is also coauthor of Connected Gaming.

Quinn Burke is Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at the College of Charleston. He is also coauthor of Connected Gaming (MIT Press).

Mitchel Resnick, an expert in educational technologies, is Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab.His research group develops the Scratch programming software and online community, the world's largest coding platform for kids. He has worked closely with the LEGO company on educational ideas and products, such as the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kits, and he cofounded the Computer Clubhouse project, an international network of after-school learning centers for youth from low-income communities.

Review

In the 21st century, computer science is just as foundational a field as any. As Connected Code explores, learning to build technology―rather than merely consume it―is increasingly relevant to participation in modern society.

―Hadi Partovi, Founder, Code.org

In Connected Code, Yasmin Kafai and Quinn Burke update the vision of Seymour Papert's Mindstorms for today's world of social media, maker spaces, and the ongoing 'digital divide.' The authors show how the goals of Seymour Papert and John Dewey can be realized in the context of today's technologies, while pointing out who is not yet privileged to participate in modern media. Both a history of 'code' in education and a call to action, Kafai and Burke's book shows us the best of making computing work for student learning―and where we are still falling short. I recommend it to teachers and researchers alike.

―Mark Guzdial, Professor, College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology

For anyone interested in children's education and 21st-century learning, Connected Code is a must. Within these pages is a call to action: how we can assure that the transformative learning occurring in the digital 'maker' movement is brought into public schools, assuring that all students―not just the most privileged―will be involved and engaged.

―Jane Margolis, lead author of Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race, and Computing and Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing

Edition details

• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 026252967X
• ISBN 13: 9780262529679
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 200