Microsoft: Make 11-Year-Olds 'Future Ready' With Minecraft Python Hour of Code 51
theodp writes: The upcoming "Hack the Classroom: STEM Edition," Microsoft explains, "is a [3-day] free virtual event series designed for K-12 educators, parents, and guardians. The sessions will feature resources and tutorials to help educators support students in learning future-ready skills. These lessons can be easily incorporated into classroom curriculum while preparing for this year's Hour of Code event -- a global effort to teach and demystify coding, during Computer Science Education Week, December 7-13."
Microsoft has boasted that the Hour of Code enabled it to reach tens of millions of schoolchildren each year with its drag-and-drop Minecraft-themed tutorials. New for middle and high schoolers this year is the Minecraft Python Hour of Code, which presumably taps into the just-released Python Content for Minecraft: Education Edition (sample Python 101 Lesson). The Hour of Code is run by Microsoft-funded Code.org, whose Board of Directors include Microsoft President Brad Smith.
Microsoft has boasted that the Hour of Code enabled it to reach tens of millions of schoolchildren each year with its drag-and-drop Minecraft-themed tutorials. New for middle and high schoolers this year is the Minecraft Python Hour of Code, which presumably taps into the just-released Python Content for Minecraft: Education Edition (sample Python 101 Lesson). The Hour of Code is run by Microsoft-funded Code.org, whose Board of Directors include Microsoft President Brad Smith.
Please... no.... (Score:1)
Do not do this.
Maybe this will make programming fun. (Score:5, Insightful)
I was one of those kids living in rural poverty who enjoyed video games and tinkering with yard sale computers enough to guide a career into software engineering and the upper middle class. The modern era is making computing easier and more convenient and less "fun." We're pushing people to be passive consumers whereas 30 years ago, you had to be pretty tech savvy to unlock the magic of your computer. I hope things like this push the curious to move from passive consumers of their apps on iTunes to the type of nerd who likes to tinker with the technology and see what they can do.
There are 2 ways to learn how to code...doing it because you found a fun project and it inspired you is how I and most Americans over 35 learned....the other alternative is for it to be boring schoolwork, which is how most kids in India learn. Most Indian programmers I've met hate coding and do enough work to either not get fired or get promoted into management as fast as they can. If they could make 10% more selling real estate, they'd no doubt switch in an instant. Most older Americans, Russians, Europeans, non-Indian Asians love playing, love video games and put a lot more love into their craft. You could never get me or most of them to sell real estate.
If Microsoft can making programming fun, I welcome it. I have no idea why you wouldn't.
Re: Maybe this will make programming fun. (Score:3)
Because, faffing around pretending youâ(TM)re learning coding is far, far less important than literacy.
And way too many (more and more in fact) are finishing school functionally illiterate in terms of basic language skills and numeracy.
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As a person from a country not using English as the native language, I'd just like to add that I learned a lot of English from computer books documenting things I wanted to learn.
Do not underestimate the influence of interest on the ability to learn things. Learning things because I have to learn them is something completely different from "I want to learn this so I can do which I find really cool."
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Because, faffing around pretending youâ(TM)re learning coding is far, far less important than literacy.
And way too many (more and more in fact) are finishing school functionally illiterate in terms of basic language skills and numeracy.
I learned to read and spell quite a few words playing King's Quest when I was in about the first grade. GP's point stands: give kids a problem they want to solve and they will learn far more than just what they are forced to learn to get their schoolwork done for the day.
Re: Maybe this will make programming fun. (Score:2)
The kids do far less reading, writing and calculations than ever.
Minecraft isnâ(TM)t big on either.
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The kids do far less reading, writing and calculations than ever.
Minecraft isnâ(TM)t big on either.
It is if you're playing with friends. My son definitely learned how to type and read a bit because of Minecraft.
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Just because our schools are bad at teaching doesn't mean that we shouldn't be exposing children to programming as early as possible.
Re: Please... no.... (Score:2)
I can just imagine the amount of bad large scale solutions that we will see in the future, similar to what many solutions in the 80's were done with Basic. Easy to build, horrible to maintain.
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On the other hand, there are many older programmers who got in to it writing in BASIC on Apple][ or C64 (even the old TRS-80!) who overcame BASIC to become actual competent software developers.
I had the slight advantage that my first program was actually in FORTRAN V on the county mainframe (dial-up). But that was an extremely limited resource, so I did a lot of programming in BASIC. C didn't really become affordable until Turbo-C came out.
While C is a perfectly good language and these days the compiler is
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And the /. quote I got today right below this post was "FORTRAN is the language of Powerful Computers. -- Steven Feiner"
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it really is. if you are doing any serious scientific research it still is the main language. the python programs used for scientific computing often rely on Fortran libraries. R relys on them the same, otherwise you'll be waiting forever for the computation to finish.
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Thats kind of one of Pythons strong points though, its pretty well known for being a maintainable language.
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I'd say that it's the opposite as soon as you have a different team trying to maintain it in a few years in a large-scale solution. People that knows about the quirks goes on to greener pastures and new people comes in that don't know why certain things are done a certain way or why A is called instead of B and then implements a C that goes in between your code and A, but fails to update every other caller of A.
If you are only within a single file you are probably good, but when you have several hundred fil
From the mouths of babes (Score:5, Funny)
My 12yo has informed me "Ever since microsoft bought minecraft, it kind of sucks."
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An insightful person.
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My 12yo has informed me "Ever since microsoft bought minecraft, it kind of sucks."
But why??? What has gotten worse under MS than before? They have continued to release regular updates with a lot more content. I can think of one thing that has got worse, and that's that they've pushed microtransactions. But they're completely optional and far outweighed by all of the free new content and support.
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But why??? What has gotten worse under MS than before?
They made enchanting require lapis as well as XP. This was a great pity because you could (with a lot of effort) build an infinite chicken machine, at which point you could rapidly slaughter the chickens for XP (and food!). So after sufficient effort you could stop having to grind for enchantments. They reinserted the grind which made it a lot less fun.
It's not like it was trivial after that, you still needed to grind for diamonds to make enchantable to
Multiple confirmations here (Score:1)
Microsoft as my kids say is going to require subscriptions in the near future just to play the game we've already bought and paid for.
Honda cannot say to me that you need to pay $1 to Honda every time you fill up the gasoline tank just because it's in page 450 of the user agreement you signed 10 years ago.
Why do we let computer companies do the same?
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Microsoft as my kids say is going to require subscriptions in the near future just to play the game we've already bought and paid for.
Honda cannot say to me that you need to pay $1 to Honda every time you fill up the gasoline tank just because it's in page 450 of the user agreement you signed 10 years ago.
Why do we let computer companies do the same?
What do you or they base that on? The only thing that requires a subscription is Realms. Because you're paying for a VPS to host your world. But nobody is making you do this. In fact, it was under Microsoft that dedicated servers were released for Pocket Edition (the non-Java edition; the Java edition has had a dedicated server since the beginning).
You don't have to love Microsoft to see that they have been pretty good stewards of Minecraft.
Not buying it (Score:2, Insightful)
Sounds like a big corporation trying to extend their reach into new revenue streams and fluffing up the marketing to make it sound like it's for the betterment of all humankind. Is there some crisis in the world where we have a shortage of python coders?
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Logic and coding are good and likely a necessary skill set in our modern society (especially logic!). But, do you know how to solder a spigot to a copper pipe? Can you replace a light switch or electrical socket? Do you know how to light the pilot light on your gas furnace?
Guess which is NOT being taught in school.
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Most water heaters still have a pilot light. It's cheaper than a self-igniting arrangement, and cost is king. They even make them with an electronic monitor to tell you when the thermocouple is hot, and you can let go of the gas valve knob.
Replacing a furnace is usually expensive and unnecessary, there is generally little difference in efficiency between furnaces. Most of the time they just need a new $100 pilot assembly. The pilot uses very little gas and you shut down for the summer, so it uses no gas out
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Regardless, having a furnace that produces heat when the power is out is a definite plus. One of them has a blower that circulates air and makes it more efficient, but it's not required for the furnace to function.
So, you have a purely mechanical furnace?
Most furnaces are designed to s
The trades are not some ticket to easy wealth (Score:2)
You can learn a little about programming and computers and become tech support or make web pages for local businesses that look nice even if they're not enterprise quality.
Becoming a plumber should and does take years. If you're not up to getting a BA in BS then you're not nearly the stuff of a plumber.
I do think society would benefit from some basic life skills classes that include basic home/auto skills.
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No it's not about productivity it's about demand. If everyone can program, it would pay almost nothing. The reason the McDonald's worker has to settle for a low wage is because there are so many people willing to work at around that wage.The programmer can demand more money because there aren't people willing to do it for a lesser cost. Beyond the fact that the money their job brings to the company must at minimum cover their salary, it has little to do with how much productivity they bring. If the company
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Anyone with an IQ above 60 can be a worker at McDonalds.
Very few can invest the time, energy and have the basic brain power (110 IQ?) to be a programmer. Very very few can become great code craftsmen / architects.
The great ones produce relatively bug free code with near-zero maintenance costs over 10 years that pays for their wages many, many times over.
Great software craftsmen of 15+ years experience should be paid in excess of $300,000 or even $500,000/year with 1 to 2 of them instead of 4-5 $85,000 5--10
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"knowing how to code" is almost useless these days. You need to have some special skills as well as the ability to pass a coding interview just to get a basic developer role.
Knowing how to code in a non-programmer job could however be extremely valuable.
It's... (Score:3)
Minecraft Python's Flying Circus?
I'm excited about hiring Minecraft programmers (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't really care about finding programmers with a broad range of skills and experiences who have a background in the theory, math and science of what they are working on. Looking at the Minecraft blog (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/code-minecraft/) I can see where having a programmer that is experienced in creating "avatars that can jump 100 blocks high, dig through mountains and make it rain chickens" would be to my advantage. Not that the last iteration of hour of code was any different - rescuing Disney princesses using Scratch is a real career highlight.
Now, I do realize that the point of Hour of Code is to get kids interested in STEM, but this ain't STEM. We need creators and people who understand the technology behind the technology and can apply it into new and unique applications - not learn how to play a game better and think they're on their way to a million dollar a year job.
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Before having creators that understand the technology behind the technology wee need to find these who can actually express an idea whatever that idea is simple or not to a computer. before running you need to walk.
Learning to program through writing programs that sort numbers in an array or making a character in a 3D world digging a tunnel and gathering the resources use the same concepts. Now once you have identified the kids who can from the kids who can't have the logical oriented mindset to do so, you
Your theory applies to good students, not bad ones (Score:3)
We need creators and people who understand the technology behind the technology and can apply it into new and unique applications - not learn how to play a game better and think they're on their way to a million dollar a year job.
There's a huge divide in education. Well-off and stable families have children who can focus on the fundamentals taught in school. They're good students and a certain percentage will major in STEM and become the creators you want. Since software engineering is one of the dominant middle class occupations and forgiving for those lacking social skills, you're going to have a steady pipeline of those. There are already classes teaching the fundamentals and private tutors that many of my coworkers hire for
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I don't know if the demographics on Slashdot have changed or what but once upon a time most of us cut our teeth hacking/cracking games or hacking boxes or working on our geocities page.
Dear Slashdot (Score:3)
Dear Slashdot,
As parent, I'm deeply concerned my children are not "Future Ready". Although they love playing Minecraft and Roblox, none of them demonstrate an aptitude or interest in iteration, functions, or list comprehensions . The first graders are working hard to master subtraction, but they just give me funny looks when I show them how to do affine transformations on a tmesh. I don't know what to do with them! The older kids are great artists and creative story writers, but just can't get the hang of K8s or Helm. The whole thing is giving me sleepless nights. Do my children have any chance of a vocation beyond chimney sweep or charwoman? Could one of them still aspire to be a scrivner or cobbler? Or is it just too hopeless?
3-days for free, then get send away again (Score:2)
Microsoft should have just made the Minecraft Education free for all.
Currently only schools can get access and my school isn't interested.
And as a parent you can't even get access, even if you would like to pay for it. =/
When Microsoft has a $2.5B Minecraft hammer... (Score:2)
...every school subject looks like a Minecraft nail. Explore Social Justice in Minecraft: Education Edition with Good Trouble [minecraft.net]: "Encourage students to take a selfie next to the historical figure that resonates with them the most using the in-game camera and add their selfie to their Good Trouble journal." [8-18 year-olds] Remembering the Great War with Minecraft: Education Edition [minecraft.net]: "Build models of WWI-era planes [...] The material is ideally suited for high school students."
Reflections of Logo, Turtle Robots (Score:1)
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We didn't even have a single turtle in my LOGO classes, but we did manage to learn about procedures, recursion, fractals... It's sad to me that LOGO has fallen out of vogue, because it is apprehensible for even young students.
Hmm... back in the 1990s Microsoft was responsible (Score:2)
...for lobbying that German "Informatik" classes at school turned from programming lessons to "Office 97" courses.
I've used MC : EE with "Python" in my classes (Score:2)
Tried it out this year, it's fun, easily accessible and generally I'd say the students like it --- however, for those wanted to use it as an way to teach Python, note, it's not really full or 'proper' Python. Some of my more advanced students ran into some weird errors that were definitely NOT errors in Python. After some research I found out it's because it's actually Static Python, being translated into Static TypeScript (a typed version of JavaScript) -- so things like
x = 5
x = "hello"
are allowed in Pytho
The first hit is free (Score:1)
Can you NOT use a specific language? (Score:2)
Here's the risk: if all you teach is Python, that's all most of these kids will ever know how to code in. You should teach them several languages. By the same token, you shouldn't only work on one operating system.
I wish I had this as an 11 year old (Score:2)
When I was 11, I started getting interested in computers - this was back in 1979.
Back then, it was *just* before an explosion of affordable computers hit in the UK.
By 1981, I had a ZX Spectrum and my coding journey began.
All I was interested in was coding games - platform games mostly and trying to code PacMan (I came close!)
Ironically, although by 1985 I was a proficient coder - at least, with Basic and a little bit of machine code, I wasn't allowed to join the computer club that started in our school, bec