Coding is the future.
Pretty much everything that you touch involves coding these days—your remote controls, TVs, phones, watches—we are a technological society, and it’s only going to increase in the future.
Coding definitely teaches you tech skills, but that’s only the beginning. Take a look at these 10 other benefits you’ll see when you learn how to code.
1. Critical thinking
Teachers all want students to be critical thinkers. If you can develop this skill at a young age, it will serve you well for many years to come. Coding is one of the best ways to do this. You can’t just wing it when you’re working on a coding problem. You really have to take the time and energy to look at it and understand it at a different level. Just think about how helpful that will be in other areas of your schooling.
Perseverance is a hard thing to teach, but it’s an important skill to learn. You want to keep going when you come across an obstacle, and coding helps you do this.
3. Problem-solving skills
Not only does coding encourage problem-solving, it helps get you thinking outside the box at the same time. When you come across a dead end in coding, there’s always a way you can backtrack and try again. This “try, try again” mentality will help set you up for future success.
4. Courage to try new things
Sometimes we get stuck in a rut where we don’t want to try new things. However, it’s good for all of us to learn something new. Plus, you never know what is going to appeal to you. For instance, some students that people never would’ve predicted would have an interest in coding, love it. And all you had to do was try it.
Coding and math go hand in hand. When you are encouraged to code, you’re also practicing your math. Best of all, you might not even realize you’re doing math. So those students who claim “I hate math” are still learning some valuable skills that will serve you for years to come.
6. Meaningful context
There can be a fuzzy period when you’re learning to code—“What does this all mean?” But then when it all starts coming together, it’s a beautiful thing. You will find that context, and then find how to apply it to your other areas of study.
7. Processing skills
When you do coding, it really is like a whole new language, which definitely encourages processing skills. It might not be your typical French, Spanish or German class, but this is a universal language. No matter where you go in the world, if you speak code, you’ll be able to communicate, which is pretty cool.
Ask any Minecraft player how difficult it was to get from one Minecraft level to the next. After they tell you their story, remind yourself that Minecraft is essentially coding. You’re like, “Hey—I’ve been doing this all along!” Now try to channel the determination you had in the Minecraft game and apply it to the coding you’re working on in class.
Let’s look at that Minecraft example again. In this game, you love the creativity—you can build a world all by yourself. This is powerful. You are able to be creative and innovative completely on your own terms. You might not have a lot of say in what you do and when you do it because you’re kids. But with coding, the control is completely in your hands.
10. Overcoming gender barriers
Men hold most of the jobs in the tech industry, especially when it comes to coding, and that needs to change this. I recently learned that less than 1 percent of coders are girls of color. This is not right. It’s such a worthy cause—coding shouldn’t be limited to boys only!
