Programming, Education, and the American Dream
summary
Claim: "anyone can learn to code" is overstated. Evidence: national literacy tests show about a third of fourth graders at or below basic and ~50% of Black/Hispanic/Native students below basic; only ~7% of low readers improve by eighth grade. Education tools include free online curricula, hour of code, mentorship and cloud dev on $300 Chromebooks (Y Web Academy runs a 9‑month program). Job‑school claims promise $73k–$110k after bootcamps but outcomes and exclusions (top five STEM schools educate ~5,700 with less than 1% impoverished) reveal privilege, not universality.
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chapters (24)
- 0:00Start
- 1:04"Learn to Code" Movement
- 11:21I went to a code bootcamp ...instead?
- 11:47I learned my first programming language in 2013.
- 14:19Writing code is nothing more than typing using a prescribed set of rules.
- 14:42Becoming a good writer involves learning from others who have done it before you. So does being a good coder.
- 17:22Education in America
- 26:21The important question becomes: Why are we pushing to incorporate computer science into public schools if so many students don't meet the standards for reading and math?
- 28:03What do people think the American Dream is?
- 28:13White picket fences... and owning your own house.
- 28:37Coming to America with nothing and becoming rich because of your own will to succeed.
- 30:20unlocking your potential, barriers be damned.
- 30:47Educating Programmers
- 31:04When computers and the internet were new, there was no computer science. People taught themselves.
- 32:46You can't learn to code if you don't have the right tools.
- 33:34To succeed as an industry, we have to stop expecting people to be able to teach themselves.
- 33:49a person with a developmental disability?
- 34:09a single parent with no time for themselves?
- 34:21Anyone with sufficient privilege, educational background, and access to tools can learn to code.
- 34:57Silicon Valley leads U.S. as early startup funding hits 2-year high
- 35:15The average junior developer makes $73,000...
- 35:27graduates typically net starting salaries upwards of $70,000...
- 36:36But what happens if you aren't successful?
- 37:42be a positive thing that pushes us to do better.
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