There is a thought that the person who knows programming will have more opportunities in future. That is why people try to obtain coding skills. In fact, any skills can influence on the career, but the awareness of programming make you the worker of high demand. The number of available online coding courses allows anybody who wishes to learn programming to do it in their extracurricular time. However, the popularity of IT rises so rapidly that more and more people want it to be taught at schools. Because computing competence does not end at the ability to use Microsoft Office and the internet. In the nearest future, the knowledge of coding will equal to the alphabet.
Brave digital world
Learning to code prepares students for life in the world of information technology.There are great number of jobs that use code directly, like web designers, software developers and engineers. The knowledge of coding is indispensable in fields of manufacturing, nanotechnology or information sciences. If you still underestimate the importance of obligatory IT education, draw attention to software that surrounds you permanently. The work of your telephone is controlled by the software. People read newspapers less because they can learn recent news through the feed. The work of the television and movie production is optimised by the software too. People gradually stop making purchases in the shops because they can make it online. So, the digital era has simplified our lives but on the flip side it can happen more complicated if you do not know the peculiarities of its work. Circumspect parents encourage their offsprings to attend IT courses being lead only by the fact that it will make contribution to their career. However, there are far more convincing reasons that must motivate them.
The earlier, the better
The cognitive ability of a person allows him to gain new knowledge at school age the most effectively. In is a common fact that it is far easier to learn a new language being a child, because kids absorb knowledge like sponges. The same thing refers to programming languages, the earlier a student starts to learn it, the most applicable skills he will acquire. Unfortunately, not even a half of modern students are aware of the fact that basics of coding are crucial nowadays. The fact that programming lessons will be compulsory will engage more potential professions in IT field. If it will be done since school, the experience of those students in high demand.
Crucial subject
On the same level with subjects as literature, maths, physics, chemistry computer science must become a compulsory one too. With the rapid development of information technologies people will face with corresponding number of problems that will require more specialists to solve them. The skill of computational thinking will become dominant. Programming develops logic, helps a person to think structurally and simplifies the process of communication. During most of the lessons a student acquires the basics of critical thinking passively. In the process of learning programming critical thinking is in the most frequent use. The lessons of computer studies teaches students the basics of how to use the computer and how to work in different software, but it do not touch the core secrets of IT work. Coding lifts the curtain under the magic of the work of digital information.
Accessible for every mind-set
The significant number of people think that it will be impossible for humanities to understand how to code. In fact, it is not obligatory to have deep background in technical sciences to obtain coding skills. There are the same rules both for beginners in programming languages and experts. Students at the High School have option to choose the field of subjects that appeals them the most. However, coding must be included in basic curriculum because it is applicable to every field. IT classes must not force students to become professionals, they must give basic knowledge to write at least 10 lines of code of the complexity required by their future occupation.
The shift in the notion of literacy
The purpose of school is to deliver knowledge to students that will make them educated enough to continue their professional growth. In the Middle Ages it was hard to meet a person who can read. The ability to write and read was a privilege that made information on printed embodiment accessible for them. As you now, digital information replaces printed, so it is not enough to operate with the standard knowledge obtained at school. The ability to read, to write and to analyze information are the components of literacy. The world of high technologies requires more skills from average educated person. He must know the logic, the arrangement of processor’s work, coding and processing of the information, the application of modern information technologies. A person can know how to read, but she must be aware of rules of how the words are actually organized in the language unites. A person may be aware of how to use various devices, however it has no use if you don`t know what physical laws they obey. Finally, it is not enough nowadays to know how to work with different kinds of software, if you do not know the way how the software is created. The creator of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg with cosmologist Stephen Hawking claim that in 2016 the basic skills of programming are necessary for everybody, because it became an indispensable element of literacy. Everybody must know how the digital world works, not only engineers.
A tool that brings ideas to life
The immense number of startups signals about the fact that the number of individuals with innovative ideas extremely increases. Nowadays, the embodiment of ideas is presented mostly with the use of programming languages. The ability to code divides people with ideas from those who can implement them into life for sure. Imagine, how many ideas exist in minds of enthusiasts, whose IT skills are not on the required level.
Photograph by Negative Space / Krzysztof Puszczyński