This CSEdWeek, CS education learning gap is increasingly dragging the digital transformation as the adoption accelerates. For a better equal opportunity future, you need to motivate more to learn now. Your mission, should you choose to accept it…
CSEdWeek has just started from Dec. 6 to 12. It’s never easier to promote Computer Science Education as there are many ways to get started. Evangelizing it will be my topic of the week for everyone I talk to. Because there is nothing too small, even just inspire a soul for the cause. And, it’s never too late to start. It’s up to you to inspire a superhero’s journey to change the world for the better by learning to “use the force” 🦾.
- Hour of Code: a 1-hour tutorial designed for all ages in over 45 languages.
- Code with Google: to ignite CS journeys in more classrooms.
- Code Next: helping high schoolers to cultivate the next generation of Black, Latinx and Native tech leaders.
- Qwiklabs: to jump start your cloud career.
- ASD on the Cloud: building Android devices from a browser.
Why now ⏳
Like it or not, COVID-19 forces us to adapt the digitalized future early. The digital world is the mainstream, and there is no going back. As 2020, 58% of customer interactions are digitalized according to a McKinsey survey, the macro environment is already accelerating a few computing paradigm shifts, e.g. Machine Learning, SW-defined, Cloud Native, etc. They will drive the frontiers to compute a better future. But it’s still early, it’s not too late to master these new paradigms.
More Inceptions 🙏
According to Gallup & Google’s US K-12 schools 2020 report, only 49% of boys & even fewer girls, 31% say CS is important for them to learn. For a better equal opportunity future, we have to motivate more students to learn CS now. In 1965 as Margaret Hamilton took on the challenge to develop the SW to put a man on the moon, she instituted the discipline of SW engineering. Since that, SW engineering has been changing rapidly. Also as a relatively young profession, the general public & also kids are not very familiar with the job. So, if you happen to be a lucky few with an insider view, you can help by telling your CS carrier journey. Even better, you can show them how to use the CS force to make your job easier & the world better. Go, to be a role model for your community.
Lower the barriers 👊
Arguably, Excel is the most popular “programming language”. There are about 750M users to use Excel to compute something. Whereas, the most popular formal programming language had only 10M developers in 2018. Sure, this is far from technically correct. But, it hits the power of a bigger pond. As “programming” becomes easier, more developers can create new applications to solve more problems. Which is a good bridge, not only to fill the skill gap for the digital transformation but also to unleash the brainpower to work on higher-value work.
For example, recently 4 students shared their experience of the course: ASD on the Cloud with their schoolmates, teachers & parents. It’s so fulfilling to see them overcoming a steep learning curve to get personal experience on the Android device development & cloud computing workflows. Some of them even go above & beyond. For example, one student is starting a CS club and another tried the code labs on his mobile phone. Kudos to all the students. As your CS journeys unfold, the sky’s the limit.
Full Disclosure
The opinions stated here are my own, not those of my company. They are mostly extrapolations from public information. I don’t have insider knowledge of those companies, nor a whatever expert.
