There are also arguments for why children should not learn to code in school. For example, one of the stronger arguments is that schools already have limited funds, space, and time in the day. To implement coding class would take a significant amount of all 3. Secondly, people argue that children should be focusing on digital literacy, not just coding. While I agree that digital literacy is important, coding should be apart of that learning.

Develops logical thinking and problem-solving skills

o   The Guide from Common Sense Education says that coding helps students learn the sequence of steps, use loops, conditionals, debug mistakes, and more. These are all skills that transfer to many subjects and careers.

Prepares students for future technology and opportunities

o   The Guardian article argues that teaching kids to code is a way to prepare them for good jobs in a tech-driven economy.

o   The Common Sense Guide also points out that coding is not just about typing code, but about computational thinking that supports creativity and cross-discipline work.

Cons / Risks to learning code:

Risk of focusing on employment rather than deeper learning.

o   The Guardian article warns that the push to teach coding is sometimes driven by tech-industry’s interest of coding to land good jobs rather than purely educational goals. This raises concern that coding lessons might become too narrow, rather than emphasizing broad critical thinking or creativity.

Challenges in age-appropriateness / resource and teacher preparedness

o   The Common Sense Guide notes that coding is a ‘multilayered skill’ and that for younger learners especially, tools must be carefully chosen and scaffolding provided.

• Students get the opportunity to learn how to problem-solve and break down problems into specific steps. This is good for coding, but also for real-world problems they may face in their everyday life.

• Our world is becoming more digitalized, for better or for worse, and coding would be a valuable skill to have when it comes to the job search after they finish their education

• It is a creative outlet for some students. Maybe they aren't talented in art like drawing, but they could make a program using code or a game to creatively express themselves.

Cons of coding

• We already use too much technology in the classroom, in my opinion, and if we added coding education, especially at the elementary level, the students would just be on computers more

• I think in the secondary level coding education would be a good thing, but for younger kids, they need to be on computers less

Secondly, coding helps students prepare for employment. As technology becomes increasingly more prevalent in the workforce, it is helpful to understand how it functions. By teaching students coding skills, they will be able to have a deeper understanding of how technology works and how to apply it. Outside of this, many employers are beginning to look for more experience in the technological field, so this will allow students to have better odds of finding a job.

As helpful as coding can be there are also many concerns about teaching it in school. Many believe that it is an unnecessary skill that will take too much time to learn in the classroom. It is believed that not all students will pick up the skill and many would only pick it up at a basic level, making it a waste of time to teach everyone. It is believed that by focusing on this over other skills, students will lack creativity and will be more focused on job training alone.

On top of this, it is believed that teaching coding is a concern due to access issues. Not all schools will have the same resources or technological capabilities. This can put students behind, and would potentially cause inequality within a classroom and education as a whole.

Coding can even spark creativity by letting students design their own games or projects, and it prepares them for future careers in a world that's becoming more digital every day.

However, there are also some concerns. Not all schools have enough trained teachers or computers to teach coding effectively. Too much screen time might take away from social or hands-on learning experiences. Finally, if only certain students have access to technology, it could widen learning gaps between schools or communities.

But along with those 2 benefits there are many concerns too. Not every student has access to devices or internet, which can widen learning gaps. And if coding is pushed too early, it might take time away from reading, spelling, or other critical learning components.

In this day and age, coding is important but it also depends on location as well as needs. For example, coding may be important in a STEM school but not as important in a public elementary school.

1. It gives students a way to express themselves outside the conventional methods of art and music. Coding can be very, very creative and this offers students another outlet for their creativity other than the typical methods (art and music).

2. It also includes a direct application of computational thinking skills that can be used in numerous situations. While we can teach computational thinking skills in other ways, coding has a direct application to those and is very useful for teaching students those skills.

Two possible negatives of teaching students how to code is:

1. It could neglect other skills, like social skills. As students become enmeshed in technology and it leads to too much screen time, this could take away from their social abilities and skills.

2. If coding is too difficult or it doesn't apply to their cognitive strengths, this could lead to bad and negative associations with technology. The student might shy away from using technology because they had that poor experience with it.

1. Students learn problem-solving and critical thinking skills, as well as actively use computational thinking. This allows them to break difficult tasks into smaller, more manageable goals. These skills can then be applied later in life.

2. Students can use their ability to code to get tech jobs, which is especially useful with those types of jobs on the rise.

Two negatives of teaching students coding:

1. Teaching students to code might lead some teachers to teach specifically with the goal of the student gaining a coding job. This would cause the student to lose the educational side of coding that encourages creativity and different skills.

2. Teaching coding will lead to more screen time for students, which is not great considering the amount of screen time lots of kids already have. Increased screen time can lead to eye strain, less physical activity, and less social interaction with other people.

These positives can also do the opposite. My only concern with teaching code in the classroom is the idea that kids or teachers might solely focus on technology when there are so many benefits to hands-on, in person learning. I might also worry about the possible human connections in the classroom being lost. I also would worry about the access problems with a solely tech based classroom, as there are many students who lack the ability to access or afford the tech required.These positives can also do the opposite. My only concern with teaching code in the classroom is the idea that kids or teachers might solely focus on technology when there are so many benefits to hands on, in person learning. I might also worry about the possible human connections in the classroom being lost. I also would worry about the access problems with a solely tech based classroom, as their are many students who lack the ability to access or afford the tech required.

Hi, my name is Simon Pracheil, and I wanted to really quickly discuss some positives and concerns* of teaching students to code. I'm going to first start with the positives and I think that a really big positive is that it's a medium for creative problem solving. There are many different coding languages, but there's almost never a consistent, definitive, 'correct' answer to things, and so by teaching students coding languages, that can encourage them to more creatively problem solve. I also think that coding can generally look good as skills to employers because a lot of careers want people who are familiar with coding --at least one coding language in this day and age. And additionally, I think that by giving students more of a creative medium, (of) like that of coding; we can help spark interest in maybe make people want to pursue careers they may not have otherwise thought or honestly just like it could give them a fun hobby. And I think that that's something that's really cool about it. I want to kind of touch on the few concerns* really quickly. The biggest ones I can think of are access to technology can somewhat gatekeep students. Not all devices are capable of running certain strings if it may be more intensive on hardware and various things like that. And additionally some students may not have the same fundamentals as others. So some students may have been using Scratch from like elementary or middle school to get basic ideas of how coding works and get those fundamentals, but others may be dropped in the middle of like JavaScript or something and feel pretty overwhelmed but yeah, thank you.

I really do think students should learn how to code, especially in today’s world. One big reason is that it helps you think in a different way. When you’re coding, you have to plan things out, test them, and fix your mistakes. It teaches problem-solving and patience because things rarely work right the first time. It also helps you get comfortable with technology, which is a skill pretty much everyone needs now. Another reason is that it can open up a lot of career options. Even if you don’t want to be a computer programmer, knowing how code works can help in tons of jobs—like design, business, and even education.

But there are some concerns too. One issue is that not every school has the money or teachers who really know how to teach coding. Some schools might have advanced classes while others barely cover the basics, and that can create a gap between students. Another concern is that sometimes people act like coding is the only thing that matters. Kids still need to learn social skills, creativity, and teamwork. Spending too much time on screens can take away from that.

I think coding should definitely be part of school, but it shouldn’t replace everything else. It should be something that helps students think in new ways while still giving them time to grow in other areas too.