A C# coding workshop for young kids: But why?

This article at ComputerWorld covers more than just the C# coding workshop — it also talks about ScratchJr and Code.org.  It’s a nice collection of news pieces, but I’m missing the underlying argument.

• Why C#?  That’s an awfully hard language — will that dissuade some of the young kids, maybe convince them that programming is tedious?
• The argument quote below makes no sense.  “Programming early can pay off in improved thinking and decision-making skills.”  Uh, no.  “Programming skills are so integral to what’s happening in our world. Name a field that doesn’t have some technology integration.”  Well, sure, lots of technology everywhere, but that’s not an argument for programming.

I just don’t get the argument that they’re trying to make.

Wendy Drexler, director of online development at Brown University, said teaching programming early can pay off in improved thinking and decision-making skills. “Programming is an excellent skill to have and not just for the marketability it offers,” she said in an interview.

“Programming skills are so integral to what’s happening in our world. Name a field that doesn’t have some technology integration,” she said. As much as teaching students a specific computer program, Drexler said educators need to “teach a mindset for programming, to lay a foundation for it.”

via For young students, a C# coding workshop for kids – Computerworld.

A Journal on MOOCs: Good to see!

I do hope that there’s enough high-quality articles with good measurement of MOOCs to make this a successful venue.

MOOCs FORUM , a new journal, is the only publication dedicated exclusively to the development, design, and deployment of the game-changing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Multidisciplinary in scope, this authoritative journal has a neutral bias. Its mandate is the critical evaluation of the MOOC components and modules that are essential in creating a global and sustainable system. The Journal will be published online, with open access options, and in print by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.