Social discussion of CS in K-12

[Charles Schultz <sacrophyte AT gmail.com>]

Good day shifters,

Just recently I become aware of code.org's offering for "CS in Algebra" and so I tried it out. This further led me to learn more about Bootstrap, which code.org uses to augment its own offering. After reaching out to Bootstrap, I received quite a fascinating response from Emmanuel Schanzer, and with his permission, I have included it here:

"We’re happy that Code.org has decided to build their math curricula on Bootstrap, but I should clarify that their offering is quite different from ours. In direct answer to your question, Code’s curriculum is a one-off: it’s intended to get math teachers teaching CS, but offers no pathway into higher maths (Indeed, Code’s HS curricula effectively forces teachers to abandon math altogether!). But - as you point out - there is higher terrain to be explored. 

 

Fortunately, the Bootstrap team is focused very heavily on exploring the math/CS connection from a learning and transfer angle. In fact, our model of programming extends quite naturally to calculus, and you’ll be happy to know that we’re exploring some options in that regard. Stay tuned!"

Given the investments that CTRL-Shift made into writing CS and CT into the curriculum at Kenwood (and a middle school?), I thought it might be beneficial to open up this door of conversation with someone who has "been there, done that". I apologize if I am out of line in this regard.

--

Charles Schultz