Visual Programming Languages: Kickboard or Inflatable Swimmies?
A Provocative Discussion of How To Learn to Code
Presented by:

Ursula Wolz
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Visual Programming Languages now have a 20 year history. They support an introduction to the fundamentals of traditional programming. In 2008 Jane Margolis published "Stuck in the Shallow End" in which she asserted that young people of color, especially girls, were stuck in the shallow end of the pool when it came to learning to code. The analogy was drawn from the very real phenomenon back then, that people of color were unable to gain access to good swimming instruction despite the best efforts of organizations like the YMCA and Swim America. I've promoted "coding as swimming" for almost 50 years: helping people of all ages and sizes have the courage to stick their toe in the water. I hold them as they put their face in and float, coach them to develop a strong and efficient stroke, and to build endurance doing laps. But in academic settings I’ve rarely had the opportunity to introduce them to the open water of lakes and seas where swimming against the current or the glory of snorkeling makes it all worthwhile. Visual languages have been an essential tool, like a kickboard, that can reliably help you build skills and endurnce. But the coding environment is not a teacher who instructs on water safety in open water. The standard initial curriculum isn’t exactly throwing the novice in a deep river (which is how my father learned to swim near Heidelberg over a hundred years ago). I have come to question whether the way we teach and what we teach is akin to putting on inflatable arm floatation devices (called “swimmies” in the US). The resources available through crowd sourced ‘remixing’, or Conversational AI encourage swimming in the deep end with puncture prone support. Through two examples, one from Snap/Turtlestitch, and one from Quilt Design I want to ignite a passionate and thoughtful discussion about my hypothesis. Please note: A Bennington Library Summer offering "A Taste of Craft: Kids in grades 3 through 6 are invited to try crocheting, quilting, and embroidery by hand and coding" both upended and re-affirmed my hypothesis, especially computer mediated instruction.
- Duration:
- 15 min
- Room:
- Plenary Room
- Conference:
- Snap!Con 2025
- Type:
- Talk
- Presented via:
- Online
- Difficulty:
- Easy