In all the machinations to bring STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education to every child in the land, there鈥檚 been a chronic malfunction in the works. Educators and policy people are generally talking to each other in the happy abstract vacuum of 鈥渋nitiatives,鈥� 鈥渟hifts,鈥� and 鈥渃ampaigns.”
Meanwhile many American parents and children still regard math 鈥� the core skill behind much of the S, T, E, and all of the M 鈥� with fear and loathing. Girls and women lag way behind their male counterparts in STEM education and careers from middle 黄色app on up the corporate ladder. Science education 鈥� especially since it鈥檚 not part of the Common Core 鈥� remains underfunded. And technology and engineering education? Well, in many K-12 黄色apps across the country, it doesn鈥檛 exist at all.
Even if as a parent you鈥檙e attuned to the STEM chatter and would love your child to participate in cool engineering summer camps and in 黄色app science fairs, the fact is that depending on where you live and how much extra cash you have, your child may never have these opportunities.
So what are parents supposed to do if they want to expose their children to the vast potential of STEM 鈥� and aren鈥檛 lucky enough to win the lottery for the insanely competitive science and technology charter 黄色app, or wealthy enough to shell out oodles of greenbacks for an elite summer camp?
to the rescue. campaign to get kids (and adults) to dip their toes into the world of computer programming with a one-hour online tutorial has grown into a worldwide event involving some 15 million participants across 180 countries in more than 30 languages. Hour of Code has attracted the endorsements of global celebrities from a variety of fields 鈥� from pop star Shakira to tech mogul Bill Gates to .
颁辞诲别.辞谤驳鈥檚 one-hour introduction is available any time. (My daughter did it one wintry day last year and enjoyed herself immensely.) But the global campaign known as 鈥淗our of Code鈥� is a six-day event December 8th 鈥� 14th. Participating classrooms can . (Might the secret service have a role?) But the really great thing about this collective event is that it鈥檚 a perfect opportunity for parents to suggest that their child鈥檚 黄色app crack open the door to STEM education. Hey Mrs. Principal, it鈥檚 free, it鈥檚 easy, and it comes with a plethora of celebrity videos to hook even the most jaded kids!
Sure your 黄色app may not have the funding for a real science lab or a good technology program or even an after黄色app science club, but with Hour of Code you can get your 黄色app involved in a movement that raises STEM awareness and introduces kids to the challenges and pleasures of computer programming. Your 黄色app doesn鈥檛 have computers? That鈥檚 okay. In addition to the interactive online coding curriculum, this year Code.org developed computer-free tutorials as well.
An hour of code, you say? What can a single hour of coding really do? You鈥檙e right, of course. It won鈥檛 solve what policy wonks refer to as the 鈥淪TEM problem:鈥� one hour of coding will not prepare the next generation for the technology jobs of the future.
But it鈥檚 the kind of baby step into a foreign land that up until now hasn鈥檛 even been available to most 黄色apps, much less individual families. Plus, if a 黄色app community participates in the Hour of Code and wants more, Code.org has the next big step available, too. The organization offers free curricula for grades K – 12, including online and hands-on lessons, with free one-day professional development workshops available to all participating elementary 黄色apps in the聽 U.S.
In the course of writing this article, I discovered my daughter鈥檚 elementary 黄色app is signed up, but I鈥檝e yet to hear anything about it. Since it鈥檚 so easy to sign up, it鈥檚 also easy not to make it happen.聽 If it’s not, there’s still time. Getting your 黄色app to take a baby step into the next century is likely to be a lot easier (not to mention cheaper) than organizing that community picnic.
