The Shape of Things to Come

7 minute read. I firmly believe that in the near future, the ability to read and write code will be viewed as a component of basic literacy. It will be hard to believe anyone could get by without it, much like reading and writing your spoken language is today, even though we know that just a few hundred years ago that was a rare skill reserved for the upper classes. If we are to achieve universal computer literacy, we will need new ways to teach, beyond the rigorous academic approaches of computer science departments. A lot of good work is already happening in this direction: STEM education is innovating rapidly, building fun ways to code all the way down to kindergarten . However, I'm interested in teaching a group between the children and the university students: tradespeople. We need an educated workforce where anyone working with a computer can write, modify, or fix a script that makes their job easier. And just as not every literate person needs to be a poet, not everyone need...