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computer as a school subject, ideas please?
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My 14 year old son loves computers and has spent quite a bit of time learning more about them and also doing some repair. He is ready for a new challenge and I’m not sure how to proceed. I see some ideas for programming, but would love some input from those of you who understand computers better than I do (that’s probably ALL of you). My goal has always been to limit “twaddly” screen time, so I’m looking for something that is worthwhile. Thanks.
Great topic! I was thinking the same thing, but for my 10 year old who loves computers, but mom hates computer games.
Learning a programming language could be very beneficial for him! I would have him do some research on what different types of programming are out there and what area of use each one leans toward. Then he can decide from there what direction would benefit him the most.
Here are a couple Pinterist boards that might help.
http://pinterest.com/pin/245375879668619494/
http://pinterest.com/booklovinmom/techonology-education/My dh has been teaching my son programming. They started with Logos which is a language I used as a child. Basically you draw by giving a turtle commands. Now they have moved on to a book called Hello World which they seem to like. My son is 12 but it was recommended to us by someone with a teen who did it on his own. My dh programs for a living btw and he seems to feel this book is worthwhile.
Nebby
My kids have done a big variety of things. They do Logo as well. Khan Academy JUST a week or so ago put up an entire computer science section. There are LOTS of free tutorials for languages like Python. There are web design classes out there. Some of the new university-distance learning consortiums have pretty advanced stuff up for the already well experienced. I’d need to know age and interest of child and what he or she has already done to send you on to stuff. Does child want to learn programming? Networking? Gaming? Web design? Lots of different directions to go.
Many people don’t have any idea how diverse the world of computers is. If you’re not familiar with this, think of the many specialties that medical professionals can have, especially doctors, and how different they can be. For example, a dentist may know almost nothing about brain surgery and vice-versa. Computers are much the same, a data miner might know Oracle SQL really well, but know nothing about networking.
So as Bookworm has stated, it is very important to know what interests your child so that you can tailor activities to that interest. That will apply to programming languages, as well. Programming languages are designed for specific purposes and they should be used for those. Programming for gaming, web design, networking, hardware, databases or other applications can be very different. Don’t try to get your child to learn a language that isn’t suited for his interest. But learning any one language is the first step to opening the doors to others; so if his focus changes, encourage him to learn another language if it is better suited to his new interest.
I had a professor tell me “A good programmer can program in any language or paradigm, but a poor programmer will only learn one language and try to apply it to everything.”
Has he taken a typing course? Does he know which fingers go to what key? I know he is older but I know several youngsters don’t know how to properly use the key board. You could use that as computer time. Then, like others have said, “computer programming, data, different versions of software, ect..” Making his own programs and running them can be very rewarding. I had a high school sweetheart that I met in computer class. He was self taught but asked the computer teacher many questions. He set the computer to go off 5 minutes before the school bell was to ring, to dismiss class. We all got up and walked out. It was so funny. He now works for Google. So there are great jobs out there for the computer techie.
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