Computers are everywhere. They're in our pockets. They're on our walls. They're in our cars. They're a critical piece of our infrastructure, from power grids to traffic lights to the inner workings of our financial markets. And all of these computers have one thing in common. They depend on software to tell them what to do.
But who exactly is going to write this software?
Considering how fast our world is being transformed by technology, you might expect the number of students studying computer science today to be at an all-time high. You'd be wrong. In fact, fewer students are studying computer science, and fewer schools are teaching it, than a decade ago.
At a time when demand for skilled programmers has never been higher, we're turning out fewer computer scientists. Even in this time of high unemployment, thousands of jobs, many of them right here in Greenville are going unfilled for a lack of enough individuals with the right skill sets.
Why is this? And how can we address it?
The problem begins in our middle and high schools. Nine out of ten of our schools do not offer computer programming classes. In Greenville County last year, only 61 students took the college-level Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Exam (out of 262 statewide), and a small percentage of all students who took an AP in our state. We're simply not doing enough to prepare or encourage our students to pursue these high-paying, vital careers.
Nearly all major computing innovations were invented here in this country, but we're at risk of losing that leadership if we don't do something now.
We need to make some changes.
One change would be to start requiring computer science classes to include coding. One credit of computer science is required for high school graduation but it could be keyboarding and applications such as EXCEL alone with no coding. Right now in South Carolina the classes where true coding occurs (AP JAVA, some PLTW courses) are treated as electives, and can't be used to fulfill math or science requirements. In other states where they've made this change, the number of students signing up for these classes has doubled
We can also start working with students at a young age to spark their interest in computer science and programming. Our children should not just know how to use apps and play video games – they should know how to create them. Children can learn the basics of programming as early as the second grade.
We need to recruit more computer science teachers and encourage professional development within their field. Today there are many online resources that can help teachers access and keep up to date with the latest technology for their students. But this type of strategic planning requires leaders who will back the funding to do it.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2020, there will be 9.2 million jobs in STEM fields. Half of those jobs — 4.6 million — will be in computing or information technology. Who will fill these jobs if our children are not given the opportunity to gain the skills needed?
December 8-14 was Computer Science Education Week. In schools throughout South Carolina our students participated in a national Hour of Code, demystifying the subject of computer science and hopefully whetting their appetites to go on and learn more. At Wade Hampton High School we inspired 55 students to participate in one or two hours of code after school. There were four workshops students could participate in: Sphero ball robots with Roper Mountain staff, Arduino circuit boards with FRC283, Kodu and game development with ITology, and open source Hour of Code. They wrote over 11,000 lines of code over the past two years in this one day after-school event alone.
I joined them, and I invite you to join in as well today, next year or every day. Everyone should learn how to code. Visit www.csedweek.org or www.code.org to learn more and get started. And support efforts to bring computer science to more schools in South Carolina.
Beth Leavitt is the director of FIRST Robotics Team 283 at Wade Hampton High School.
