Bringing Computational Thinking to K12

This article provides an introduction to computational thinking and offers some insights as to its history and development as a conceptual and pedagogical practice. The article attempts to provide an overview of computational thinking by investigating the relationship between computer science and computational thinking, exploring how to define computational thinking in a way that is useful and relevant for educators, developing some strategies to bring computational thinking into the classroom for a wide range of subject matters, and assessing the necessary requirements and guidelines to integrating computational thinking within the K12 system. From what I understand, computational thinking generally appears to be a conceptual framework of thought in which logical thinking typical of use in computer science is emphasized. It also engenders a variety of other computer-related concepts for educational practice such as the increased use of computers in instruction or the integration of computational terminology into pedagogical language.

In response to the question, "Do you believe that learning should tap into computational thinking for students today; why or why not?" I offer a guarded yes and no. I think, in general, that it would be a good idea to update our educational system to acknowledge the ongoing technological revolution - some sort of reexamination of our basic institutions that addresses the potential of computers in education. But, as described in the article, I think computational thinking is too broadly defined to be of use in its current state. In its effort to stretch its relevancy to cover every facet of education, it has become too vague to distinguish itself from preestablished modes of thought. I agree with certain parts of computational thinking, such as the effort to rework the school system to integrate technology and technological understanding. But then they have all this other stuff about tying this to some ambiguously defined system of thought that encourages students to think like programmers or something. I don't think this approach is relevant or desirable for every single subject matter or mode of instruction. In addition many of their proposed changes seem pointless, such as the introduction of programming jargon into the classroom environment, or even not really different from current educational guidelines and strategies. In short, while I agree with some of the goals and methods of and reasons for computational thinking, I think it is too broad to be very relevant to teachers in its current state.

Barr, V. and Stephenson, C. (2011, March) Bringing Computational Thinking to K-12: What is Involved 
and What is the Role of the Computer Science Education Community? ACM Inroads. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/NETS_Refresh_Toolkit/Bringing_CT_to_K-12.sflb.ashx