When you’re on a website, and it glides seamlessly between menus and choices, have you ever wondered how it came to be? In amongst the thrills of buying something new or playing a game, did you stop and think about how it was born?
For every great website, there’s an equally great mind coding it. Some people, especially those who work in top web design companies, speak coding languages more fluently than their native tongue, and they can make a webpage do anything they want. But do we need to place more emphasis on learning these scripts from a young age?
IT – Not Important?
Within the education world, the programming of a computer is part of a subject known as information technology. Up until a certain age, all are required to take mandatory classes on how to code, program and safely use the internet.
However, after a certain point, the subject stops being required and starts being optional. For many, this marks the end of the dedicated study, in favour of a language or something more in the humanities side of things.
Is This Attitude Correct?
Those who have loyally supported the importance of coding and web design have, for years, objected to this idea. It’s just as much of a language as say, French or German, and they’re typically compulsory. There’s a growing argument that in an era of developing technology, IT skills should be more prominent in the classroom.
As Mr Tom Whale, marketing manager at the Oxford Summer School says, ‘the amount of young people who don’t know how to code or create a website is staggering. We get students who dream of becoming entrepreneurs, and yet they admit that they would struggle to make even a basic website. There needs to be more of an emphasis on these skills, especially in the modern world’.
Change – Inevitable?
So perhaps it’s time we look again at what we teach our children. Their education should be well-rounded, and there’s a lot of reasons why knowing how to code, make websites, maintain them and diagnose problems are all valuable skills. In a world of rapidly evolving artificial intelligence and an increasingly digital workspace, perhaps it is time that we look to a new way of teaching and a different emphasis for students.
Without these skills, they can’t thrive. Learning how to code when your career is at risk isn’t an ideal situation, and some won’t be able to keep up. Perhaps it’s time to change how we teach and emphasise the technology that we’re all so quick to implement into our lives.
We think that there should be a renewed importance on providing IT skills to kids. As web designers and enthusiasts of coding and programming, we’re well aware of the importance of such knowledge in the workplace. That’s why we want to see this change in our schools and other educational institutions because they really can make all the difference to the future employability of many.