Comments for familyCoding

Comment on What Most Schools Don’t Teach by James Matthew

James Matthew — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 19:06:21 +0000

This is good, especially the NBA player and Will.I.Am promoting coding. I have recently become involved in the FIRST Robotics program and LinkedIn’s FIRST group recently had some discussion of why more celebrities don’t promote STEM education. The idea was that students and parents might pay attention if an actor, singer, or athlete is promoting STEM.

I doubt that we are close to putting coding classes in the standard curriculum but I hope that I’m wrong.

By the way, Will.I.Am did a great television special a year ago to promote the FIRST Robotics program. He’s become a real champion for the “geekier” side of education.

Comment on The Women by 5 things I learned about MOOCs in 2012 | familyCoding

5 things I learned about MOOCs in 2012 | familyCoding — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:47:14 +0000

[...] 5. MOOCS are especially great for women. At one point this year, I came across a popular tech ed blog, where it was speculated that the gender ratio of MOOCS were probably not much different from those in regular Computer Science courses. i.e dismally biased towards men. I’m not convinced that’s true. Almost all the people who showed up to my Montreal Code Year meet ups were women. My experience of peer review in the Coursera HCI course is that there were many women in the course. And, while I don’t know the numbers, I feel safe speculating that MOOCs will be a significant factor in restoring gender balance to computer science. (Yes I did use the word RESTORE.) [...]

Comment on Happy Birthday Ada Byron, b. Dec 10, 1815 by JulietWaters

JulietWaters — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:35:04 +0000

Thanks for dropping by James. There are many conflicting opinions about what her true contribution was. But I don’t think there is much doubt about how important her collaboration with Charles Babbage was. I think she’s a great symbol for national computer education week.

Comment on Happy Birthday Ada Byron, b. Dec 10, 1815 by James Matthew

James Matthew — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:25:24 +0000

She was an interesting person who accomplished a lot in a short life. Hopefully, her image as a computer programming pioneer has inspired other women to enter what was a male-dominated field.

Comment on Hello world! by Snake Eyes | familyCoding

Snake Eyes | familyCoding — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 17:02:45 +0000

[...] I was thinking about the programming satori experience that got this blog rolling. I remember how I felt after I got through the Snake Eyes challenge. The world took on this [...]

Comment on Hello world! by familyCoding

familyCoding — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 12:37:05 +0000

Hey Steven,

Thanks for reading. Your brain can do it. Mine is older than yours and I`ve almost finished the code year track. It is like learning another language, or like learning an instrument. Looking back the most important thing is to do it in small chunks everyday. Think of it like running, or learning piano. It takes a while for your muscles, physical and mental to adjust. You`re going to have your WTF days and your days when everything lines up. Trust the process. And also, get out there and meet other people who can code, or are just learning. I`ve found it a very welcoming and humble community. Especially if you`re approaching it as an amateur. Can`t speak for the hierarchies within competitive corporations, but the programming for sake of programming movement is a great place to learn and meet people. Good luck.

Comment on Hello world! by Steven

Steven — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:03:45 +0000

I’ve been trying to dive into coding recently like you have. I found you thanks to an email that came out today from codecademy.
I really have become frustrated over the past couple of weeks for a variety of reasons. The first being that I’m 34 and feel like my brain doesn’t want to absorb anything new. The second is that coding is just like a foreign language and it is hard to learn! Third is there are tons of free resources online trying to teach people. Some sites are good and some aren’t. It becomes overwhelming trying to determine who’s legit and who’s teaching you junk or old technology!
On top of all of these things I have to determine how I best learn. Is it reading, watching videos, or is it hands-on??
I wanted to say thank you for posting your story and progress over the past few months. Your adventure has renewed my hope that I can learn to code and be successful at it! I just need to focus and do it. I think I will sign up for code year as well and start working my way through it.
Keep up the good work and please keep sharing your progress. You’re definitely encouraging more people than you know.

Comment on Wired's Chris Anderson: Today's 'Maker Movement' Is The New Industrial Revolution [TCTV] by familyCoding

familyCoding — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 17:59:27 +0000

I also find it very interesting from a socio economic angle. There’s the stuff you can make. But there’s also the relationships that grow out of the stuff you make, and the making of stuff. Shipping manufacturing abroad has really isolated citizens from each other, and the buyer from the vendor and the producer. So I’m curious how people making their own products, or grouping together to make products might bring people back into contact with each other.

Comment on Wired's Chris Anderson: Today's 'Maker Movement' Is The New Industrial Revolution [TCTV] by James Matthew

James Matthew — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 18:42:52 +0000

This is interesting stuff. The relatively low cost of this technology gives people the creative freedom with hardware that personal computers provided with software. I’m looking forward to reading his book.

A column in the November issue of Popular Science states that home 3D printers may, in a few years, be capable of printing more materials than plastics, which could further expand that creative freedom.

Comment on Hello world! by Norm

Norm — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 13:05:44 +0000

Good one!