If we consider the broad objective of computer science, we will see how fundamental it is for our lives, especially for future generations. We've been talking about problem solving from decades ago...and recognize that many of these problems can be best solved by computational approaches is almost obvious.

But who's doing that? It could be my daughter, your son, all of us if we had been taught how to code.

Something that still lives in a collective imaginary is that it´s the kind of job for geniuses, or nerds locked in their dark rooms and surrounded by computer screens. I recently watched a video called Code Star in which celebrities tell how they started coding, many playing on apps, others at school. In one of the speeches, you can hear something like: "You didn't have to be a genius to learn how to write...why do you need to be the genius to learn how to code?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU1xS07N-FA

The big change in understanding this is that, despite the many challenges that this approach brings, it allows today’s students to be better prepared for the future. Not just because we are increasingly immersed in technology, but because of the skills that this discipline allows us to develop. Unlike what is believed, learning how to create technology is an approach that helps to develop collaboration, creativity, the inclusion of new perspectives and people, the use of logic and strategic thinking in solving complex problems.

The Universal Design for Learning approach is an excellent way to start thinking about the inclusion of computing resources in the classroom. I loved this approach as it connects very much with the proposal of design thinking itself for learning. I believe that just the ability to identify the 3 different learning networks is already a big advantage for teachers and instructional designers. What, how, and why we're learning something should be basic questions of any learning design. Bringing coding through this framework can be highly transformative for any educational environment!