Update

At this point, Finn and I have made significant progress with our 20-time project, and it is beginning to show up in our actual project. We are slowly but surely developing a basic knowledge of the computer programming language of python, and the clouds are starting to clear from our vision as we look to the future of creating our product. We both feel that taking time to become fluent in the language has been a setback, but we also both feel that it has been a necessary one. We will be able to accomplish more this way, and we feel that we will be able to take away more from the experience. As we continue to work, we will be shifting our focus from learning to creating. If we stick to our knowledge, we believe we will be able to have a functional product in the next few weeks.

Field Work

This weekend Finn and I spent our time developing more fluency in programming. We continued to work on the online course we are taking. We feel that this course does a very good job of teaching a basic understanding of the syntax and vocabulary of python, but it does not do a great job of teaching how to be creative with it. Still, we find the former basic understanding to be completely necessary in order to develop the skills of the latter. We do plan to meet with a mentor, but unfortunately it did not work with either of our schedules this weekend. My neighbor is a client of my dad’s and he works in the field of computer science. We are considering meeting up with him when we get the chance. When I was in elementary school, I was on the Lego League team and he was one of the coaches. He is very knowledgable and a meeting with him would definitely benefit our project.

One Pager

Computers have become a part of our daily lives over the past few decades, and it is becoming less and less frequent to find a place where computers are not accessible. Hand in hand with this comes the use of computers in the workplace. Any productive space, whether it be an office, warehouse, or even a school, will have access to computers. Because of this, many people now value computer coding as one of the most important job skills around. While I believe that coding is a very useful job skill, I also believe coding is something people should learn even if they do not plan on working in a field that requires the skill.

Lydia Dishman of the magazine Fast Company believes that coding is still the most important job skill, and will be for a long time. She says that the increased use of computers in our lives brings a large demand for more software development. She also states that computer programming jobs are growing at a rate 12% higher than the market average (Dishman, 2016).

Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis of the New Yorker have a different opinion. They believe that our knowledge of computers and computer programming is growing fast enough that soon we will not need to know how to code, the computers will do it themselves. They think that soon we will have programs that will be able to improve themselves and write others. This means that the demand for computer programmers will fall, as they will no longer be the most efficient way to develop software (Davis and Marcus, 2014).

I think that there is some validity to both of these claims. I do think that programming is a big need right now, because computer use is very popular. I also think that computer programmers are in high demand right now because computer science is not yet at the point it needs to be in order to have computers write programs for themselves in the same way that humans can. However, this might become true in the future, which leads me to my point: I don’t know whether computer programming will be as useful as it is now in the future, but I do think it is important to learn. Computer programming teaches a way of thinking that is different from the ways we are used to. This is why I think it is so valuable. This way of thinking emphasizes resourcefulness, because in order to learn programming, you must draw from many different sources and piece the information together. This is why I think computer programming is something that everyone should try to learn.

Bibliography

Dishman, Lydia. “Why coding is still the most important job skill of the future.” Fast Company, 14 June, 2016, https://www.fastcompany.com /3060883/why-coding-is-the-job-skill-of-the-future-for-everyone

Davis, Ernest and Marcus, Gary. “Do we really need to learn to code?” The New Yorker, 6 June, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/ do-we-really-need-to-learn-to-code

Research Questions

1. What are the steps taken to create a program?
2. What types of computer programmers are there?
3. What knowledge is needed other than the programming language to create a program
4. How long does it take to write a program?

Documentary Idea

For my 20-Time project, I am considering producing a documentary. My idea is that everyone in the school has a different background, and I want to showcase that in a film. I want to focus on the amount of diversity inside the walls of Kennedy. A lot of people stay inside of a bubble. They talk to the same people, and this can limit their outlook on others. I want to change this with my documentary. I would choose several students who agree to be filmed. All of them would have differing backgrounds, personalities, and personal lives. I would attempt to highlight the fact that not everyone is the same, but that doesn’t take away from their value. Everyone lives their lives in different ways, and that is a good thing. If everyone was the same, there would be no diversity, and we would be stuck in the same place.