Computing Skills

photo by Michal Zacharzewski, via RGBstock.com

Because of the "screen time" issues, it's hard to advocate really young children using computers, but that doesn't mean they can't learn the logical algorithmic thinking methods required for computer programming. These can be as simple as giving numbers to sequences (e.g. "1. Eat dinner, then 2. We'll go to the playground") or showing cause-and-effect (e.g., If we press this button, the light will go on).

Things to consider if you are new to computers:

• There's the computer: The machine itself is often forgotten in the hype about computers. As an engineer, I actually love this part of the world of computers: The programs are the sexy fashion on an amazing model (okay, that's a weird analogy)--the computer machine is the heart of the package and I like giving it fair attention (see How Computers Work and Bebop to the Boolean Boogie) 
• And there's the program: A lot of resources are around particular languages to make software (see Scratch, Alice, Kudo)
• There's computational thinking: sequences, algorithms, and logic are introduced in games like Robot Turtles and Mastermind and activities like spreadsheets and logic puzzles (see Microsoft Excel: Simple Projects and  Recreational Mathematics)
• And (IT) literacy: In addition to skills above, a sense of the history and how the machine, humans, and society have interrelated. The history is fascinating (see Computer: A History of the Information Machine, Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of WWII and ENIAC: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the World's First Computer)

See more resources on Pinterest.

~ until next time, Yvonne