Computer science has been integral to the development of our modern day technology. Through computer science, we have achieved so much, yet there is still so much more to discover.
“I think with the future being pretty much said that it’s gonna be technology driven. I think students getting into computer science is ultimately important in being able to navigate whatever future career they’re gonna have,” Computer Science teacher Kenneth Gray said.
Computer Science and AP Computer Science at LSHS allow students to excel in problem solving skills. Not only will these skills help with future careers in computer science, but they will also apply to all aspects of one’s life. New Jersey Institute of Technology predicts that cyber security jobs may increase by up to 32% across the next 10 years, a single field of Computer Science.
Computer science teaches students how to interact and communicate with computers using the programming language. The first computer science class teaches the basics using a site called Snap and block coding, and then ramps up to an actual coding language called Python.
AP computer science specializes in teaching Java, which is a more advanced language and has a larger range of uses in the coding space. Gaining knowledge of coding can allow someone to develop critical thinking skills and possibly make monotonous tasks automated. Learning how to code is a transferable skill, and even if it isn’t a field one pursues, it still teaches the important ability to problem solve in unique ways.
If the future is technology, having some ability to use it and interact with what made it will be integral to the future. If someone understands how computers work, it will be easier to use them and configure them in the future.
“Computer science to me is, like, kind of a hobby, but yet kind of like a passion for computers and what I enjoy in life,” senior Kaden Ii said.
Computer Science allows for a student to not only learn the technology around them, but bond with others. The class is rather interactive at most times as students code their own projects and get feedback from their peers.
One specific project from the past was the AP Computer Science Shark Tank project, in which students worked in groups to make a pitch for a program and what it could accomplish.
Students would then make the product and present it to the class, taking questions and simulating what an actual product demonstration would be. One group of students made a demo for a game about little rodents on a journey to find friendship while other students made programs to help make day-to-day life easier.
“I think just working on the projects and just seeing what I’m writing down as code becoming an actual physical tangible experience on the screen,” senior Nick Thees said.
Unlike a class like math or history, the work someone put in has something to show for it. Rather than a paper stating what happened during the Civil War, students can create a program that accomplishes tasks and makes life easier.
Computer science as a whole is an ever evolving field that is always in need of more people.
Taking a class on it in high school could create a possible career path for the future, paving a way for students who might not have their plans after high school figured out yet.
Loading ...
