I program. I'm 17, so I don't have any degree, but I know enough to tinker and work on personal projects. I started in year 9, at 14, with flash, and have taken part in the NCSS Python Challenge each year since, and attended the NCSS summer camp in 2013. VCE software development is one of my subjects this year, and if this is what Labour want for every kid, then this is a Fucking terrible idea. Most of this subject isn't about programming, or coding, or even software. There is an insane level of theory, and I hope this is just at my school, barely any of it beyond basic comments in code is explained well. Sure, the SRS, diagrams, and data types are important for projects, and it's fitting that they are in a class for the development of software, but this should not be taught to every kid. I haven't felt inspired by anything we've done in class. As none of the concepts are explained well, all of my understanding comes from other places, like NCSS, or udemy, or tutorials I've downloaded. The fascination that I think is what draws people into programming comes from being allowed to explore and expand on ideas, and unless this plan has a strong focus on this, it will fail. A majority of the people who use these skills won't be in programming development, they'll use them for automating calculations, or data generation, and so on. And I'm terrified that in an effort to rush this plan to enforce Its quickly, these people will be put off from programming because of the mindless theory. In my opinion, keeping in mind that I'm not any expert, the plan should work with technologies that will be easy to use, and that will be useable for these kids. I think python, html/css/javascript, php/some sql, and maybe java, should be used, as they can be taught quickly (python has no problems with missing semicolons, reads like English) and can tap into children's desire to explore, by giving them the power to create web pages that change (php) and they can customize the appearance to their hearts desire (html and css). Not only will these basic languages give kids skills that can be used for years down the track to get jobs, and pique interest in IT fields, where they can go to more powerful languages, but the fact that a web page can be whipped up in just as much time, for me it's less time, than a PowerPoint, puts them in a position to stand out at school for presentations. I don't know what the purpose of this was, but I thought I should share it.
