A few weeks back, the non-profit Code.org, sponsored an initiative called “An Hour of Code” that was designed, through a one-hour online tutorial, to show students the basics of writing computer code. Code.org’s goals are:
Bringing Computer Science classes to every K-12 school in the United States, especially in urban and rural neighborhoods.
Demonstrating the successful use of online curriculum in public school classrooms
Changing policies in all 50 states to categorize C.S. as part of the math/science “core” curriculum
Harnessing the collective power of the tech community to celebrate and grow C.S. education worldwide
To increase the representation of women and students of color in the field of Computer Science.
This I have no issue with.What I do question is the look on Nancy Pelosi’s face after completing one of the Code.org modules. She’s so happy, you’d think she just successfully fixed the Obamacare website herself:
Wrote a few lines of code for Angry Birds —got that bad pig! A great #stem education opens so many doors #HourOfCode pic.twitter.com/0PKRUwyWI4
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) December 13, 2013
I did the same “Hour of Code” with my kids, ages six and eleven. My six-year-old also moved the Angry Bird a few boxes. Literally. You learn to move the Angry Bird a few boxes:
But my daughter didn’t share in Pelosi’s enthusiasm at what they had accomplished.
Why in the world is Representative Pelosi so proud of herself? She’s supposed to understand this, no? Since she’s voting on funding for gigantic Obamacare websites and NSA technical programs, maybe she should have a little more instruction on how writing code works than what’s designed for a six-year-old. As should every member of Congress.