Why Aren’t We Teaching Coding?
Yesterday I have a chance to speak to a group of about 30 High School Juniors about being an entrepreneur. I was one of 4 speakers and we all shared our stories and provided the students with a few pearls of wisdom we all learned a long the way.
The students seemed pretty engaged and asked a few questions. But one thing stuck with me. When I was giving my talk, I asked how many of them had ever heard of analytics or data science? None raised their hand. I then asked how many are learning coding in school now. Two tentatively raised their hands.
Sigh.
I talked a little bit more about what can be done with analytics, why its a lucrative field to get into and how its important to entrepreneurs to be data savvy. They listened, but I could tell they didnt really comprehend much because there was no frame of reference.
Double Sigh.
What are we doing? Shouldn't some sort of coding and working with data be more common in your typical American high school experience.
The fact that its not, combined with the fact that an ever increasing number of jobs require data analysis skill, added to the fact that I know from first hand experience a lot of Asian countries have already added basic coding to their secondary education curriculums is highly depressing.
It sounds kinda dramatic, but it maker me shudder to think we might have already lost the next world war because we didnt teach enough kids to read and write code. We have already lost the technology edge in so many areas and this is one of the root casues.
I guess that means triple sigh.
So Im now gonna make a bigger effort to try and get in front of more students. Maybe its too late, but at least I can try my best to make
Dan Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics advocacy with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and has recently begun offering public training seminars in the United States.
Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.
As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!
When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like the North Central Florida Analytics Meetup Group and Saint Leo University’s Women in Data + Science Program and the Data + Women of Tampa Meet Up Group.
