High school provided me with my first exposure to computers and digital technology. I remember having to take a computer science course and feeling completely overwhelmed. I had no real idea what the teacher was talking about. I was handed cards with holes in them and was asked to “run a loop”? I muddled through the course thanks to “Steve” a straight “A” student, who graciously arranged my cards for me and walked me through each painstaking assignment.

We have come a long way since then. The advances in today’s technology are having a significant impact on the landscape of teaching and learning. Coding and programming are good examples of subject areas that have evolved tremendously. Today, students as young as kindergarten are learning how to code in some schools. In addition, there are even large scale events e.g. Hour of Code, that are promoting not only the benefits but the necessity of this skill. I have read several sources that claim that programming skills are going to be one of the skills needed in tomorrow’s workforce. Along with that is the idea that many of the jobs that we are preparing students for do not even exist yet!

Interesting Times!g!