On November 29, 23 educators from 13 school districts in the Capital Region met at the Tech Valley Center of Gravity in Troy for Code U 2. The event now in it’s second year, is a joint venture from Questar III, Capital Region BOCES, Tech Valley High School and the Center of Gravity, and is designed to gather educators to share ideas to bring coding into the classroom.
“Coding is all around us. If you want to know how that computer in front of you is working, that’s what you’ve got to do, you’ve got to go into the code,” said David Hawkins, a librarian at New Lebanon CSD.
This year’s event included a panel discussion about the need for coding education, and allowed time for attendees to explore different activities available for use in the classroom to get students coding hands-on.
The day concluded with a tour of several businesses in Downtown Troy, giving educators a first-hand view of the business world their students will be faced with.
Those in attendance say because coding is part of so many industries today, it’s important to get kids exposed early.
“I feel like coding can be taught at a very young age, and I have students that can prove that for me. I don’t think it has to be just high school or just college based, or adults. It could be anyone,” Hawkins said.
Canajoharie CSD Librarian Tammy Jones said there’s a need for individuals to fill coding jobs right here in the United States.
“Right now, I believe the last number I heard, there were about 11 million computer coding jobs that the United States can’t fill because we don’t have the kids trained for it.”
Events like this one are helping to change that. To learn more about coding resources for your school or classroom, visit hourofcode.com.
