Comments on: My College Regrets http://googtweetblog.edublogs.org/2008/03/18/my-college-regrets/ Education, technology, and other geeky things Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:23:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Marie http://googtweetblog.edublogs.org/2008/03/18/my-college-regrets/#comment-430 Marie Fri, 21 Mar 2008 04:38:48 +0000 http://googtweetblog.edublogs.org/2008/03/18/my-college-regrets/#comment-430 This made me think of how girls and boys learn and often are taught differently in relation to technology. Although study has identified there is not a great deal of difference in primary years, when kids get older it becomes more apparent. Where girls are often attracted to the social aspect of computing (ie they are more into social networking) boys are more into the design of programs etc. Also, studies have shown that where boys are encouraged to problem-solve, girls are given the help that teachers think they need (ie solve the problem for them). Girls are reported to drop off their interest in technology related subjects around year 10 (15 yrs) which is the age they need to focus on if they are going to study at uni. So for girls to become more interested in IT, teaching needs to reflect the needs of both genders. Marie This made me think of how girls and boys learn and often are taught differently in relation to technology. Although study has identified there is not a great deal of difference in primary years, when kids get older it becomes more apparent. Where girls are often attracted to the social aspect of computing (ie they are more into social networking) boys are more into the design of programs etc. Also, studies have shown that where boys are encouraged to problem-solve, girls are given the help that teachers think they need (ie solve the problem for them). Girls are reported to drop off their interest in technology related subjects around year 10 (15 yrs) which is the age they need to focus on if they are going to study at uni.

So for girls to become more interested in IT, teaching needs to reflect the needs of both genders.

Marie

]]> By: bcds http://googtweetblog.edublogs.org/2008/03/18/my-college-regrets/#comment-421 bcds Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:51:28 +0000 http://googtweetblog.edublogs.org/2008/03/18/my-college-regrets/#comment-421 Altho I am now teaching computer and science- I was an English major in college,then got a BS, MS in science, then ran a preschool, then taught K for 13 years. I was never into the hard science- much more applied and never took a computer course in high school (they didn't exist then) or college ( just stood in line to feed my shoebox full of punch cards into a giant computer which basically spit out what excel does for me now). I am still not fascinated with the programming piece, but end up learning pieces of it to solve problems. I took a course at CMU on Alice last summer and although I was really worried going into it- found that, although it was hard for me, it was really fun. The whole Alice program is free and is a good intro to programming. I have Scratch on all my computers in the lab- as a free choice activity. I'm using Alice with my 9th graders. The girls are as into both of these programs as the boys. The whole object oriented thing and the story-telling piece both help, as well as the fact that you don't have to worry about the syntax. The new version of Alice will be out in a year or so- with Sims animation and characters and a java interface- at least that's what was in the wings last summer. So, my point is, even if you don't know all the bells and whistles of programming, there are fun ways to introduce it to middle school kids or younger, which I think will help motivate them to go on to more CS courses in high school and college. Altho I am now teaching computer and science- I was an English major in college,then got a BS, MS in science, then ran a preschool, then taught K for 13 years. I was never into the hard science- much more applied and never took a computer course in high school (they didn’t exist then) or college ( just stood in line to feed my shoebox full of punch cards into a giant computer which basically spit out what excel does for me now).

I am still not fascinated with the programming piece, but end up learning pieces of it to solve problems. I took a course at CMU on Alice last summer and although I was really worried going into it- found that, although it was hard for me, it was really fun. The whole Alice program is free and is a good intro to programming. I have Scratch on all my computers in the lab- as a free choice activity. I’m using Alice with my 9th graders.

The girls are as into both of these programs as the boys. The whole object oriented thing and the story-telling piece both help, as well as the fact that you don’t have to worry about the syntax. The new version of Alice will be out in a year or so- with Sims animation and characters and a java interface- at least that’s what was in the wings last summer.

So, my point is, even if you don’t know all the bells and whistles of programming, there are fun ways to introduce it to middle school kids or younger, which I think will help motivate them to go on to more CS courses in high school and college.

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