This summer, Lower School academic technologist Michael Fisher taught 86 elementary and Middle School boys and girls the basic tenets of computer coding and 3-D printing during several Landon Summer camps. Each session lasted a week and focused on creating video games, writing programs for robots, and learning Python, JavaScript, and html. The camps were a continuation of the technology initiatives implemented in the Lower School last year — and a precursor to this year’s Lower School tech classes, which are now a part of the curriculum. In this Bear Blog, Fisher shares why it is so important for students to learn computer coding at an early age.

Today, most students and parents see computer science as an abstract subject reserved for high schoolers with the most brilliant minds. To the contrary, computer science is accessible to 4- and 5-year-olds, and an understanding of it is essential for equipping students for success in an increasingly digital world.

That is why at Landon we introduce students to coding during their Lower School years. Last year, we began that process with after-school Technology Clubs for third, fourth and fifth graders. This fall, Lower School students will continue that education as part of the formal curriculum. Equipped with their own Landon-provided iPad mini, they will learn how to use the tablet in the classroom as a productive problem-solving device. In support of this initiative, students will attend tech classes at least one time in an eight-day cycle to gain understanding of the creative and constructive power of computer coding in action.

In its essence, computer science is the understanding of how we program computers to do our wishes. Programming or “coding” involves understanding that a computer by itself is completely ignorant of what to do. It needs directions to be broken down into their most basic elements. By precisely breaking down directions to the computer, the coder learns valuable lessons about how to see critically what he/she is asking the computer to do. Because of our limited understanding of what a computer can or cannot do, the process of giving computers directions is fraught with error. By continually attempting to code the directions over and over again, the coder learns the power of persistence in rephrasing the directions in tens or hundreds of ways. It is an experience of frustration and elation. The coder is able to work through the difficulty and produce a solution, and the reactions of a coder figuring out the solution is similar to scoring a touchdown!

The boys and girls in my Technology Clubs and 3-D Printing and Coding Camps at Landon Summer left with an understanding of what effort and hard work can produce. They can produce a replica of a skyscraper like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai that is printed out in minutes, or the satisfaction of a program that when prompted will type, “Hello, world.”

I look forward to continuing to help our Lower School Bears achieve that sense of satisfaction, and learn invaluable computer science skills in the process.