Communications of the ACM
How to Get Students Excited About Tech in a World of Instant Gratification
"I want to be the guy making these students enjoy technology and apply it to real-world skills," says Desmond Hasty, the only computer science teacher at Boys' Latin of Philadelphia Charter School.
Credit: Kerith Gabriel / Philadelphia Weekly
The Philadelphia School District has added a wealth of technology throughout 129 schools this year, including increased Wi-Fi bandwidth, iPads, laptops, and smart boards for all grade levels.
All of these new tools arrive with an intrinsic focus on teaching coding in schools, a notion implemented across Pennsylvania only in the last 2-to-3 years. In trying to keep up with many other larger states throughout the country, Pennsylvania educators are seeing not only the value but the necessity in teaching coding education as early as elementary school.
Desmond Hasty, the lone computer science teacher at Boys' Latin of Philadelphia, a charter school for middle school and high school students, is fully aware of the importance of what he's teaching.
"Teaching kids to think and problem solve requires a certain amount of logic and perseverance," Hasty says. "Learning [computational] languages teaches kids how computers will think, react, and how they can control all of those outcomes."
"Sure, kids check out and so there's a constant struggle," Hasty says. "There's just this immediate need for knowledge and instant gratification nowadays that if they don't get it off the bat, it's a number's game for who's going to put in the work to comprehend."
From Philadelphia Weekly
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