Dr. Jakob Nielsen, often referred to as an expert on usability, and a well known name in software and website design recently posted an article about “Life-Long Computer Skills” on his alertbox page at useit.com.
Several of the topics presented by Dr. Nielsen parallel with what CSTA is recommending in the ACM Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science. Here are some of the alignments.
Dr. Nielsen talks about:
Information Credibility and Information Overload, which is discussed as being topic number 10 in both the grade level 3-5 and 6-8 topics.
Writing for Online Readers, which is discussed as being topic number 10 in the K-2 topics, and topic number 6 in the 3-5 topics.
Computerized Presentation Skills, which is discussed as being topic number 8 in the K-2 topics, and topics number 4, 5, 6, and 8 in the 6-8 topics.
Debugging as the process of fixing mistakes in a computer medium (ie errors in spreadsheet formulas) which can be seen throughout all of the grade levels in the model curriculum.
Isn’t it nice when outside sources confirm that what you are advocating is a good idea?
The more education is coming into the spotlight, the more people agree that teaching computer skills and computational based thinking to all students is a good idea.
Share this information with your colleagues, your administrators and people in your district at all grade levels!
Leigh Ann Sudol
Chair, Communications Committee