The Tallahassee Democrat – Johanne Deremble
“You probably heard about implementing coding classes at schools as an alternative to a foreign language class. Until last week, I did not believe it was a serious possibility. The bill is now going to be on the Senate floor and seems likely to pass – this is happening. Belonging to a family of scientists, it does make sense to me to implement coding classes in our schools. I do think it is an interesting idea that will give students more opportunities to engage in tomorrow’s world market. I do not understand, though, why it is associated with foreign languages. It is true that the word “language” describes a variety of things. A language gives you the ability to engage in a dialogue. Math is a form of language. With coding, you can communicate with computers. It is a technical skill that may be useful in numerous professions. But how is that comparable with learning a foreign language? I wonder about the message we are sending to students: Communicating with machines is as valuable as communicating with other human beings.”(more)