{"id":202,"date":"2012-08-20T11:35:28","date_gmt":"2012-08-20T11:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rosarioconsulting.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=202"},"modified":"2012-08-20T11:38:34","modified_gmt":"2012-08-20T11:38:34","slug":"5-reasons-to-love-khan-academy-for-computer-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/5-reasons-to-love-khan-academy-for-computer-science\/","title":{"rendered":"5 reasons to love Khan academy for computer science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Finspiredtoeducate.net%2Finspiredtoeducate%2F5-reasons-to-love-khan-academy-for-computer-science%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/rosarioconsulting.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/girlsAtComputer.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-206\" title=\"girlsAtComputer\" src=\"http:\/\/rosarioconsulting.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/girlsAtComputer.jpg\" alt=\"Girls Coding\" width=\"500\" height=\"356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/girlsAtComputer.jpg 500w, https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/girlsAtComputer-300x213.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Stop! Take 10 seconds to consider a world where computer programs did not exist. \u00a0 In this world of &#8220;no computer programs,&#8221; \u00a0the following is true:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The internet does not exist.<\/li>\n<li>Facebook does not exist.<\/li>\n<li>You would not be reading this blog article.<\/li>\n<li>Your phone would just make phone calls&#8230; Oh&#8230; phones won&#8217;t work either.<\/li>\n<li>No angry birds. \ud83d\ude41<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>As you can see, the world without computer science and programming would be less delightful. \u00a0 I feed my family with computer science every day. \u00a0 \u00a0I have worked as a professional programmer for over 11 years. \u00a0 As a software engineer, I have the opportunity to create software solutions so that engineers do better engineering. \u00a0 I love my work. \u00a0 In contrast with other types of engineering that require potentially expensive raw materials, computer science enables you to convert ideas to cool stuff with a computer, focus, and passion. \u00a0Computer science is service oriented too. \u00a0 The craft of programming serves business, science, education, and medicine.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Like many in the industry, I am concerned about passing on the craft of computer science to future generations. \u00a0 I personally would like to see the United States remain a leader in innovation. \u00a0 \u00a0As a US community, we need to mentor the next generation of NASA engineers, video game designers, and innovators in health technology. \u00a0 \u00a0As we nurture these young minds, their leadership will give rise to new jobs and a thriving economy.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I really appreciate the work Mr. Khan and his team have done with Khan Academy for computer science. \u00a0 If you have not visited their site, I would I would invite you to <a title=\"Khan Academy for CS\" href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/cs\/1-welcome-to-codecanvas\/882454257\" target=\"_blank\">click this link<\/a>. \u00a0 For more background on the work of the Khan Academy and flipping, please visit <a title=\"How can YouTube support great teachers? Can we flip education?\" href=\"http:\/\/rosarioconsulting.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=76\" target=\"_blank\">my previous article<\/a>.<\/div>\n<p><strong>5 reasons to love Khan academy for computer science<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>JavaScript is the language of the web<\/strong>: \u00a0The JavaScript language could be one of the most\u00a0influential languages in computer science. \u00a0Why?\u00a0Most major websites will not function without JavaScript. \u00a0 Great products that we love today like GMail, Google maps, WordPress, Google, and Evernote could not function without JavaScript. \u00a0 I believe it would be challenging to find a major website that did not include a few lines of JavaScript.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It&#8217;s like LOGO on steroids<\/strong>: Teaching programming with pictures is a great idea. When I started to learn about computers in\u00a0elementary\u00a0school, \u00a0the popular game based learning experiences included &#8220;Where in the world is Carmen Sandiago&#8221;, &#8220;Oregon trail&#8221; and &#8220;Number munchers.&#8221; \u00a0 At this period in technology, the Apple II was bleeding edge technology. \u00a0 \u00a0We loved our 8-bit graphics! \u00a0 I was one of those weird kids who enjoyed the idea of drawing with a computer. \u00a0 We used a small computer programming language called LOGO to create small pictures. \u00a0 In researching this blog post, it appears that <a title=\"LOGO in web\" href=\"http:\/\/logo.twentygototen.org\/_REo_2F2\" target=\"_blank\">LOGO has been ported to the web browser<\/a>. \u00a0Cool!!!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Instant feedback<\/strong>: As I teach my kids about technology, I have observed that they react to instant feedback. \u00a0 \u00a0I believe one of the killer features of Khan Academy CS is that you can make edits to programs and instantly see the impact of the change in a picture.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Math is yummy when paired with programming<\/strong>: I remember learning about 2D coordinate systems on graph paper. \u00a0 \u00a0This technology can help math teachers introduce this idea with programming. \u00a0 \u00a0The <a title=\"Introduction to drawing\" href=\"http:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/cs\/intro-to-drawing\/848372201\" target=\"_blank\">introduction to drawing tutorial<\/a>\u00a0teaches the idea of drawing using simple shapes using coordinate systems.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It teaches basic programming, games, and more<\/strong>: As a student of computer science, I am amazed at the scope of learning that&#8217;s possible through this site. \u00a0 Introducing basic concepts like variables, loops, calculations and statements can be challenging concepts to teach. \u00a0 The site teaches very robust topics beyond this scope including game programming, fractals, and game of life.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div>I hope you take Khan Academy for CS a spin.<\/div>\n<p>What are other tools and games that help teach computer science and math?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Picture taken from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/imcomkorea\/3949119219\/\">http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/imcomkorea\/3949119219\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Finspiredtoeducate.net%2Finspiredtoeducate%2F5-reasons-to-love-khan-academy-for-computer-science%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stop! Take 10 seconds to consider a world where computer programs did not exist. \u00a0 In this world of &#8220;no computer programs,&#8221; \u00a0the following is true: The internet does not exist. Facebook does not exist. You would not be reading this blog article. Your phone would just make phone calls&#8230; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,7,11,3,8,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}