Yesterday, I reported on some big problems with the way kids learn about computers and what they can do with them. “We teach our kids how to be consumers of technology, not creators of technology,” says Jan Cuny, who heads up research on computer education at the National Science Foundation.
Of course, a few kids do learn how to write their own programs and code their own visions, and it’s no secret that they tend to be male and white or Asian. If we want to democratize the tech economy, more kids need a chance to learn about the power of computing and what it could do for them. Here’s a by-the-numbers look at the scope of the problem: