This week we celebrated Computer Science with a week of events and lessons all dedicated to Computer Science (CS). This has been the largest whole-school academic event thus far this year with the objective of getting our school community involved in CS education in a fun and accessible way. We brought together resources and lesson ideas to allow most classes throughout the school to host a CS event. The aim of this week of events is to get K-12 students interested in computer coding. During the week, students have been encouraged to take part in an “Hour of Code.” During this event, students are literally expected to code for an hour, well, more like 40 minutes!
Along with coding, CS Week also highlighted the importance of computer science. Computer science is an important subject because it teaches problem-solving and analytical skills, and is an essential skill in the modern job market, with many scholarships out there dedicated to this area of study. It is our hope that this week will improve students’ computer literacy as well as their understanding of how computers work.
Computer coding is also known as programming. Codes are programs that tell the computer what to do by writing out instructions. Although a regular user might not see it, coding is everywhere. Any computer device, such as desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones use code. Coding is also essential in the creation of websites and apps. Computer coding also drives the most intelligent robots.
Along with coding, this week also promoted the importance of computer science education, internet safety and ethical ways to behave when online.
Computer science can benefit society in countless ways. Its numerous applications mean that computer science also creates jobs. Research shows that the jobs in this field are expected to grow by 13% by 2026. This is much faster than all other occupations. For this reason alone, students are more likely to take computer science classes at university.
