Becoming a Moms Can Code Community Leader
I published this first on the Moms Can Code platform
Want a challenge? Take something that you care about and try to teach it to someone else!
When Erica, founder of Moms Can Code, asked for people to lead their communities on educating moms (and dads) on how to support their kids with code, I raised my hand. I HAD to raise my hand. Almost every time I am chatting with other parents and code comes up, they express concern that they do not have the brains, time, confidence, skill, whatever to be able to code or understand what their kids are talking about. It is crazy. No matter what my response is in that moment, they continue to deny their own abilities and remain ignorant. I did not have the vocabulary or mindset to show them how they do already know.
I was and am absolutely convinced that everyone - even people who have never touched a computer or smart phone (I am not actually sure that these people exist) can learn and understand the principles of coding. We use them everyday. I am prepared now to go down that path and start the gears turning to show my friends, colleagues, and neighbors how they do have the skills and understanding to code. Consider these questions:
- Did you make any decisions today? YES
- Did you complete any multipart tasks today? YES
- Did you direct someone else or something else to do anything today? YES
There you have it. Basic principles of code. Everyone can do it.
The thing is, most folks don’t know that code is really just like real life - just telling computers what to do. If you have not been exposed to several computer languages, you might think that they all look like the crazy mess that comes up when your PC is crashing. What does that mean? Nobody knows. The misconceptions come because the code is largely hidden. It is hidden from us when we interact with our computers and our phones because developers create beatiful interfaces (that they call GUIs, Graphical User Interfaces) that keep us from having to think about what is going on under the hood.
The journey to community leadership has been fun and a little challenging. I have loved reading kids coding books; trying out introductory programming websites, books, and apps; and looking at my own community resources. Even more, I love the support that I get from other moms in Moms Can Code who are taking this same journey learning to become community leaders - and some who are on a different path. Countered to that, I struggled to comprehend the plethora of code based and STEM toys available to very young children, and I had to practice and keep testing things to com up with ways of talking about code without using code jargon.
I’m not proselytizing here. Just as strongly as I believe that everyone can understand and use code, I do not think that everyone should have to do it or want to do it everyday or for their job. Knowledge is power, though. When you realize that your computer, car, phone, etc. is doing something for a reason, you now have the power to do something different. Or, you can see where your kid is struggling with an assignment and help them work through the problems. Sharing the ability to code is not about turning the world into a bunch of robotic programmers, but about empowering people.
I challenge you to think of one thing in your real life that you can use next time someone shows you that they do not feel confident with code. They, and their kids, will benefit.