Working on KidsCanCode.org

I'm excited to write about my newest project, KidsCanCode. I've been strongly in favor of increased computer science instruction for kids for some time. However, the more I've gotten involved with schools, the more I realize that the public school system (nor even private schools in most cases) is not going to be able to address the problem. K-12 education is focused solely on serving the standardized testing agenda, and tightening budgets will only make it more so.

See Code.org for more, including some eye-opening stats.

So what's the solution? I believe there is plenty of interest out there from parents, educators, and organizations - we just need more people to work to make it happen. At KidsCanCode we're going to be building affordable after-school programs and workshops that will get more kids the hands-on experience with technology that will spark a lifelong interest.

Ultimately our goal in particular is to put these tools in the hands of those groups of kids who are the most underserved when it comes to technology education:

• Girls - while women earn 57% of all undergraduate degrees in the US, they only account for 18% of those issued in computer science related fields (see Today's Engineer: Fostering Gender Diversity in Computing). We need to foster an early interest in girls, especially prior to high school.
• Underpriviledged kids - Using the Raspberry Pi allows us to supply an incredible learning computer to kids who may not have access to a computer at home.

That's the idea. I look forward to updating here with our progress.

A note on this blog

I'm still tinkering with how I want to set this up, so you'll notice there is no comments section. I'm of two minds about the value of blog comments in general, so they may not materialize at all. If you'd like to contact me, please feel free to use the link on the right.