I realize that I have not written on my blog recently, mostly because I spend all my time in front of a screen learning how to write code.Until this year, I had never though much about programming—I used a computer all the time, but never thought about how this all worked.
Being in the instructional technology and media program at TC, two semesters of programming are required—I chose flash action script—primarily because I am familiar with other adobe programs, and consider myself a visual person. Over the course of the last year I have struggled to learn code, and probably spent more time programming than I ever imagined possible. In the last week, I have had a breakthrough—I am becoming a programmer! I can build an interactive website and understand the power of the code to do that. I have become so interested in programming that I began to look around for other opportunities to learn code, preferably online. Websites that cater to learning various programming languages; JavaScript, ruby, HTML or building websites are exploding. Many educators believe that to understand how to program is an essential 21st century skill. Doug Ruskoff, in his book, Program or be Programmed states: “The real question is, do we direct technology, or do we let ourselves be directed by it and those who have mastered it?”
I signed up for Codeacademy, which offers free online tutorings about JavaScript. The lessons are interactive, fun and offer rewards (badges) for learning achievement. This is really my first experience with trying to learn online. I have never taken an online class and am curious about my success with self-directed learning.
Two Stanford instructors started a company called Udacity, where more than 160,000 students signed up to learn online. Another interesting company is Treehouse (teamtreehouse.com) advertises, “What do you want to learn today?”
I was also very interested in Girl Develop It—“Teaching women how to code!”
There are so many new sites to learn to program: Code Racer, Women Who Code, Rails for Zombies and CoderDojo among others.
If Major Michael Bloomberg can make a New Year’s resolution to learn how to code so can I!
