When one thinks of foundational skills necessary for students to learn, reading, writing and arithmetic instantly come to mind. But with advances in technology, a new type of language is becoming increasingly important.
Computer language – formal instructions communicated via code to control computers and other machines – is a relatively new addition to school curriculum. But even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking at Google Canada on Jan. 14, said, “we need to do a lot better job getting young people to understand what coding is and how it’s important.”
That philosophy is shared by Bill Belsey, a teacher at Springbank Middle School. He said the value of understanding code will continue to increase for students as time goes on.
“It’s just endless, the number of things that we’re (using) coding for,” he said. “Hardware only runs if there are a proper set of commands to tell the tools what to do in the most efficient and safest way.”
At Springbank, Belsey teaches an option coding class where students have the opportunity to learn a variety of programming languages, such as JavaScript, Python and Scratch.
Alexander Berezowski, a Grade 7 student, said he has been coding since he was in Grade 3. In Belsey’s class, Berezowski codes in Batch – which sees him listing a series of commands in a text file, which the computer then interprets.
“Batch is when you run a command prompt on the PC. Batch is the easiest language,” he said. “It’s very English-based. You copy and paste, and all that. I just really like coding. I create whatever I want. I just have to use Notepad.”
Berezowski’s focus is developing antivirus software. After finding a virus on his home computer, Berezowski started developing software to try and eliminate the portions of the code in the virus causing the problems.
“In the text, there’s a bunch of symbols that the user can’t see. But there’s some symbols that they can,” he said. “By looking at the placement of those, I’m able to create an algorithm for every virus to create an anti-virus to that.”
Ultimately, Berezowski hopes to work at Norton, an antivirus and security company.
Another student, Sarah Matrai, is a minority amongst the classroom – she’s one of only three girls in Belsey’s class, a fact that doesn’t bother her.
“I don’t really find it that big of a difference,” she said.
“I feel like I can ask anybody here a question or anything. I just feel at home.”
Matrai is working on a video game starring two avatars – a male and a female. In the game, the player controls the male avatar, who is chased relentlessly around the screen by the female avatar.
“I would say it’s the story of someone who is overly obsessed to the point where it’s creepy and weird,” Matrai said. “Personal life experiences.”
Matrai, who is coding for the first time, said she finds the process relaxing and fun. Classmate Christian Morris, who is working on a horror video game, said he would like to attempt to find a job in the video game industry.
“Honestly, I always have enjoyed coding,” he said.
“It’s about taking a blank slate and then bending the computer to your will to do what you want.”
Belsey said he hoped his students would go on to be well equipped in a modern work environment.
“The point is to learn all these other skills. It’s fantastic. I think every kid in Alberta should have some exposure in coding,” he said.
“It just shows that you can create an environment where kids have success, even if they’ve never coded before. That makes me proud of them all.”
