Jason Hutchens, writing for Medium:
There’s a problem with Computer Science education. Our kids enter primary school absolutely fascinated with computers and technology; each and every one of them. And yet somehow, after twelve years in the school system, fewer and fewer of them opt to pursue a career in IT. In Australia, the number of students graduating University with Computer Science degrees has been dropping year after year since the turn of the century.
Learning computer science in the traditional curriculum in an engeering setting is hard and unpleasant. No doubt enrollment spikes when cool computer-related stuff happens, but that includes the release of The Social Network.
stephengillie on Hacker News comments:
The problem isn’t a lack of devices with the bare bones showing, where tinkering will produce results to be learned. The problem is that some things, like iPhone apps, are so much more polished than anything the average 12-year-old can produce that anything they make is discouraging by comparison.
That may also be true, but that kids produce crappy drawings doesn’t stop them from trying. I suspect the same is true for programming — the experience of actually creating something is spectacular enough alone.
(via news.yc)