Carolyn Fox

Authored Comments

Yes, I think there is a difference between a) folks who take things apart and b) put things together, and c) people who don't need to take things apart but can appreciate the time, effort and beauty involved. Dr. Linda Silverman has a chart on the differences between auditory-sequential and visual-spatial learners (http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/Visual_Spatial_Learner/vsl.htm) that may help.

Coding can be quite linear, sequential, and exact; there's often not a lot of wiggle room or areas for grayness. For some people, it's a natural fit for them and their brains. For others, it's like running fingers down a chalk board and stifles their divergent/creative thinking. I couldn't see Gary Larson (Far Side), Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants series), Jim Henson, or Monty Python responding to coding like others do. It's just not in their DNA so to speak. Their creative thinking operates in a different way, yet Jim Henson was constantly tinkering with puppets and had a hacker/ maker mindset.

It's good to get kids to tinker whether it's with electronics or cooking. https://diy.org/ - has some stuff online for kids (including hacking code).

I saw this noticed today and thought you might be interested -
http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/26/zuck-bill-gates-jack-dorsey-code-org-film/ -