Why computer programming is about more than perfect code

i was lucky enough to be given the

opportunity

to run a scratch day which is a coding

event run every may

i was quite pleased because we had a

good turnout and the kids were really

keen

some had travelled quite far to be there

and so it was really pleasing to see how

happy they were

however it was during the break that

barry’s parents came up to me

and related to me that this was the

first time barra

had ever wanted to go to any event and

furthermore

it was the first time he had ever agreed

to speak in front of people

they thanked me profusely and said that

they wished all schools could offer

coding

because he was bullied incredibly

introverted

and it was the only thing that he loved

and through coding

he’d found friends and a purpose

it’s this escapism that speaks to me

when i was a kid i was in that horrible

situation

where i was bottom of the class not only

was i being bullied by the kids

but also the teachers were completely

against me

in fact on one occasion the bullies

bashed my head against the school

building

and then i was told off for playing

dangerous games and punished again by

the teachers

in hindsight i’m pretty sure that

programming and video games

got me through my toughest days

i’m sure many teachers create classrooms

that are sanctuaries for their students

the kind of classroom where students

want to be

computers and coding almost provide an

extra layer to that

because when students are fully engaged

it becomes its own little world where

students have godlike powers to shape

that world

however for students to find their bliss

in this world there is a world’s climb

the joy of coding is that it is a fully

consistent world

you get the same result every time but

it is a world where an extra bracket

isn’t glanced over but will stop the

program in its tracks

this challenge brings great joy when you

finally debug that code

but also great frustration when you

can’t find that error

teachers run the risk of making the

steps so small that it’s like drip

feeding

with no joy of problem solving or create

mountains so steep

that they feel like everest making a

state of flow

is the holy grail for every computing

teacher

the paybacks for learning coding only

start with escapism

the more i thought about it the more i

realized just how many of my students

are coming out of their

shells thanks to coding just recently i

saw a student who was incredibly shy

not just speak to other students but go

across the city to lead a coding team

another shy student wanted to help the

rohingya refugees

and realize that even basic computing

skills might help

and so we set up an after school club

for them

the other less tangible benefit is that

coders are problem solvers

these are the people that thrive on a

challenge and love to solve problems in

innovative ways

for example my students are now using

raspberry pi’s and some co2

sensors to try and solve the problem of

predicting pollution across kuala lumpur

so the schools can judge when outdoor

activities might need to be stopped

and give pe teachers advanced warning

if students do become empowered then a

challenge becomes an

opportunity to perform way beyond your

expectations

my code club i showed a trailer for the

maze runner

it’s a film where every night the maze

changes and they send runners out to try

and solve it

i thought it was a cute introduction for

my coding club to make mazes

and thought it would be you know a nice

way for them to have a go

what i didn’t bargain for was that one

of my year 9s would take this completely

literally

and make a maze that changed every

single time

you ran it let’s be honest none of the

other coders could solve this challenge

i even put it out to the teachers in

southeast asia i got

nothing back however it was a seemingly

impossible challenge

i had to solve it right bliss

you