Coding Kids by Natasha Singer

CODING KIDS by Natasha Singer (New York Times reporter focusing on technology in schools) describes “Big Tech's Battle to Remake Public Schools.” Described as the “best possible introduction” (Sherry Turkle), a “must read” (danah boyd), and a “necessary book” (Diane Ravitch), CODING KIDS has the potential to be a great “one book one school” choice for adults as it probes questions about the influence of tech companies as well as the purpose of education. Booklist summarizes Singer’s solution as “Stop preparing kids to be cutting-edge tech savvy. Reassert public education's main mission: to teach kids to become independent thinkers.” Isn’t that refreshing? Preparing students for their whole lives, not just for a job. Singer divides the book into three main sections (The New Power; The Big Tech Education Playbook; and AI Literacy for All). For example, she looks back in time at Microsoft’s efforts to mainstream computer science classes in high school and a famous video (What Most Schools Don’t Teach) that prompted wider interest in coding. Singer also describes the evolution and impact of programs like Learning to Code with Google and Apple’s influence on Advanced Placement Computer Science classes. She brings in teacher and student voices by chronicling classroom discussions such as one on surveillance, tackling the question: “would you rather be under video surveillance or audio surveillance every day, all day?” CODING KIDS is based on years of research, and the Notes section comprises roughly ten to fifteen percent of the text. The Kapor Center, a non-profit that Singer references just recently released an updated version of its “Responsible AI and Tech Justice for K12 Education” with six core components. Interested readers may also want to explore the edsurge (iste/ascd) article on “Protecting Student Cognition in the Age of AI” or The Digital Delusion by Horvath.