JON ATHAN TORBITT
For schools to succeed in teaching coding, they need to encourage independence and allow kids to learn at their own pace
For schools to succeed in teaching coding, they need to encourage independence and allow kids to learn at their own pace.
Over the past few years, getting coding back into schools has become big news and big business. Central government stipulated changes to the national curriculum that meant revoking the teaching of ICT – and its emphasis on using technology – and replacing it with Computing, whose emphasis is on coding. A growing number of schools has been offering it for a few years now, while others still don’t offer it beyond the age of 13.
What constitutes Computing in schools then? Well, it’s mostly programming. “Code programs in at least two languages,” the Department of Education says. “They’re only six years old,” many teachers retort – “and what’s an algorithm?”
Schools often have to ask for help online, or buy clunky off-the-shelf packages that demoralise the kids. School leaders and pupils often think Computing is “too hard” and so avoid it. A growing number of schools are dropping it in favour of league table, target-friendly choices – and I expect to see a contraction in candidate numbers next year.
At Rendcomb College, we deliver Computing differently. Kids learn at their own pace and have fun. This approach appears to be working; we enjoy excellent recruitment and results. I’m currently coaching an Oxbridge applicant to study Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence, and her project is based on AI in computer games. All the students in my A-Level class have applied for, or are actively considering, CS-related degrees and jobs.
Why should you care? Well, the tech sector remains largely successful in these tough times, offering decent jobs with salaries that pay 50% more than junior lawyers or accountants – yet those still enjoy better profiles in school careers guidance. Many schools have little idea about the tech careers currently on offer, and even less about how AI is increasingly being used to settle insurance and legal cases automatically. Most schools lack a specialist teacher with a degree-level CS qualification, so provision is inconsistent or non-existent.
Employers are forced further afield to find candidates, due to a dearth of low-skilled (in tech terms) graduates as university application numbers drop yearly. The more we can educate children in Computing, the more enjoyable and worthwhile they’ll find education and employment. More university courses and jobs require the ability to construct data models, manipulate complex IT systems and use free and open-source software. Do they learn this at school? Not a chance. It’s “too difficult”. There’s no “proven educational benefit”. They do learn it in my class, however.
Programming isn’t just about typing in code
I teach Computer Science (and yes, I have a CS degree). I was an army officer and then a consultant before becoming a teacher. Everywhere I went, someone would proudly proclaim they were “rubbish at computers”. I’ve had a computer since the age of four – a Spectrum – and, if my 90-year-old grandmother can learn to use one, I believe there’s no longer an excuse for “being rubbish” .
That’s true for adults, and certainly more so for children. In my experience, every child can learn – and I should point out that Rendcomb College doesn’t select students based on academic ability in some “representative” exam. We have the same mix of talents as any non-specialist school in the UK. My classes are made up of a mix of girls and boys and ability levels.
There are two keys to progress. One is to enable learning to program independently, so that everyone can learn at their own speed. My second realisation is that children best learn to code by writing it in meaningful contexts. This is how kids learn in my classes. They sprint to prove competence in programming fundamentals such as iteration or selection by completing sequences of increasingly complex tasks.
All work is set in a real-world context, so they see the point in doing it. Pupils can get up and walk around to share knowledge, which is somewhat different to many other classes. If they get stuck, they peer review, check online and then ask the teacher, who will know how to get to the solution. Those who need the most support receive greater one-to-one time with specialist teachers who have industry experience and CS degrees. This results in happier children as progress is rewarded with freedom to explore personal interest
“The tech sector remains successful, offering jobs with salaries paying 50% more than junior lawyers or accountants”
“All work is set in a real-world context, so students see the point of doing it”
projects such as robotics, 3D printing, the Bloodhound SSC Rocket Car Challenge and retro gaming.
This requires effort, resourcing and a different mindset. It also needs you to be totally on top of where everyone is all the time. You can’t happily admit you know less than them. This isn’t acceptable in my book. Some schools support only one language; we support six – and more on demand.
With all this progress came new challenges. In particular, we needed a standards-compliant web application that auto-allocates performancerelated work, tracks and rewards progress, provides meaningful feedback, and works through a restrictive web proxy.
You might think that Google and Microsoft would have the answer. They helped design our national curriculum and provide Google Classroom and OneNote/Office 365 free to schools. That’s great for typing or putting together presentations, but to make Computing work in a time of IT cost-cutting, we’re in need of a web-based IDE and learning platform. It’s been tried by startups such as Codecademy, edX and Udemy, but has never been tied to the British curriculum. Too often, systems are confusing or too complex for children. They lack flexibility and are dropped after only a few months for being unable to cope with the connectivity and reporting restrictions under which UK schools operate.
What we need is the likes of repl.it combined with the national curriculum, so teachers can allocate tasks, use unit testing to speed marking and feedback without reinventing the wheel. This frees up valuable time for one-to-one coaching and enrichment, rather than ticking homework. Think of it as free, paperless, easily accredited and standardised Computing training that could accommodate multiple languages. Industry gets betterskilled, more confident people at a younger age, with reduced training and acquisition costs. Universities would receive more skilled undergraduates who leave school happier having made better-informed career decisions.
So how do we do this? Looking at repl.it, there were no pre-built courses to meet our needs, so I started one prior to taking a fortnight’s paternity leave last month. I knew I wouldn’t have time to mark my class’ work, and that they wouldn’t have a specialist teacher there to advise. The problem to solve was how to give students enough work to keep them busy, but also to provide feedback to prevent uncertainty creeping in when they’re unsure whether their answer is correct.
The answer came in the form of unit testing. Once a pupil writes their code, it’s submitted for automatic unit testing, after which they get a pass/fail. This is achieved by passing input values or regular expressions into the code on behalf of the pupil; this will then produce a valid output. If the test is passed, the pupil can read a code exemplar and move on to the next task.
It works fairly well. I’ve been receiving a stream of notifications about submissions, retractions, re-submissions and feedback. I can override the automatic feedback and provide formative comments to help build confidence and understanding. Remote learning without a teacher even needing to be in the room – scary for some, but the realistic future as teacher shortages continue and demand for these courses grow. If a single, automated programming course could be constructed, tested and developed appropriately, all schools could offer programming as long as the pupil has a PC and internet access.
The best thing about this experiment with technologyenhanced learning? It works. Our Computing numbers are at an all-time high. Female participation is around 40% each year in our school, but close to averaging 0% in others. We make it accessible through discrete related tasks that are tracked online. It isn’t all typing, though. Nothing quite beats chasing your Micro bitcontrolled rocket car across the tennis court before it hits the Headmaster!
Does this matter? Shouldn’t kids be out climbing trees? Well, if I was being flippant I’d ask how many jobs, aside from tree surgery, that prepares them for. More seriously, a recent survey showed Computing was recognised as the most useful and enjoyable subject in secondary school after English and Maths. It beat the “traditional” sciences. It beat most other subjects combined. The respondents weren’t IT geeks: they were school-leavers and graduates with the benefit of hindsight and currency in the employment market. No prizes for guessing who will have the edge when fighting for jobs. TorbittJ@rendcombcollege.org.uk