In the 21st century, computer science is just as foundational a field as any. As Connected Code explores, learning to build technology—rather than merely consume it—is increasingly relevant to participation in modern society.
Hadi Partovi, Founder, Code.org
In Connected Code, Yasmin Kafai and Quinn Burke update the vision of Seymour Papert's Mindstorms for today's world of social media, maker spaces, and the ongoing 'digital divide.' The authors show how the goals of Seymour Papert and John Dewey can be realized in the context of today's technologies, while pointing out who is not yet privileged to participate in modern media. Both a history of 'code' in education and a call to action, Kafai and Burke's book shows us the best of making computing work for student learning—and where we are still falling short. I recommend it to teachers and researchers alike.
Mark Guzdial, Professor, College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology
For anyone interested in children's education and 21st-century learning, Connected Code is a must. Within these pages is a call to action: how we can assure that the transformative learning occurring in the digital 'maker' movement is brought into public schools, assuring that all students—not just the most privileged—will be involved and engaged.
Jane Margolis, lead author of Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race, and Computing and Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing
The list of references and cross-referenced studies and material is impressive. If you are, or want to be, involved in educating children, then this book is an essential read.
British Computer Society
This book is as engaging as its catchy title suggests.
Computing Reviews
In their book, Connected Code: Why Children Need to Learn Programming, Yasmin B. Kafai and Quinn Burke draw from their own extensive experience teaching children to code. They argue that it is not simply enough for students to learn to code, but rather for all pupils to become computational participants in today's increasingly digital society. From this perspective, learning to program is to computational participation as writing is to literacy. Computational participation goes beyond programming to include collaboration in a maker society, just as literacy goes beyond the fundamental act of writing. In addition to advocating that everyone should learn to code, Connected Code presents the developing idea of computational participation, encouraging more productive, authentic, and creative learning through collaborative processes.
Teachers College Record
