A Vision For Empowering The Next Generation To Be Masters Of Their Computers

One need that we considered as we designed materials to teach computer language was how to give students and teachers a sense of context. While the materials are interesting and inviting, they don't look like computers. So what are we doing here?

We dug into the history and explored how the people who created computers did their work. What were the problems they were trying to solve? What did that look like? How long did it take to arrive at what we think of as a computer today?

The more we delved into the stories of the people whose legacies led to machine language, the more we were struck by this idea: the people who created computers were not just aware of binary numbers, they were fluent with them. The numbers were a useful tool, and confusion with how to work with them or read them didn't get in their way.

The more we looked at how these experts contributed to the field of knowledge that led to computer science, the more convicted we felt that this truly is the place to start. As computers have become more sophisticated in their ability to decipher speech and produce answers to questions, it is tempting to see computers as the new thinkers, the new explorers, and the experts.  When computers are understood on their own terms, the temptation to anthropomorphize them disappears and they are seen for what they are: incredible general purpose information processing machines.

When we become the experts in the computer's language, we can become the true masters of this technology. It is not enough to have a cursory understanding of the building blocks of machine language. Let's give children the time to become fluent with these systems, to practice, to see binary numbers enough times that they aren't intimidating. Let's give them the keys to move technology forward themselves.