I presented this week about why I believe kids should code. Ideally, I wish I had the money to back some sort of scholarship fund, or nationwide initiative. Maybe one day I can make it work.

Ted Underwood's The Stone and the Shell post, "Where to Start with Text Mining" emphasized that textual analysis isn't new. Our, "wrinkled spongy protein" brain is already much better at analyzing literature than most computers.  It's the large scale text crunching that's new, and it's hard for us to imagine all the possibilities because we're not used to thinking like that. But in combo with computers, we can accomplish a lot.

My Old Sweethearts: On Digitization and the Future of the Print Record by Andrew Stafford concluded with the argument that DH exists because of the value we place on both the digital memory as well as the physical text. It is the existence and the situational exploration of both that provides validity.

After those readings and ideas stewed in my mind, seasoned by a whole week spent on basic coding introductions, I started to think about all the opportunities kids had to dive into the practice. Learning late has been such a curve, but they do this stuff early right? I learned that this was not the case.

After a bit of research I realized that the only kids who get to really dive into coding and digital manipulation/creativity are those who parent's pockets run deep. Cubetto is an educational robot and coding interface for children 3 and up. It's lowest offer is about $250, the most expensive is far over $300. Other toys like Fisher Price's Code-a-Pillar is about $40 which is cheaper, but still likely not the first choice for many parents.

When I looked at coding camps toted as havens for creative kids, these prices were even more jaw dropping. An ID camp offered at USF is no less than $900 a week not including food, overnight fees or any bonuses kids may be interested. Only incredibly well off families can afford these expenses and schools certainly do not support coding initiatives in elementary school.

I believe that the whim like brilliance in children would be even more beneficial when supplemented with coding and digital manipulation lessons. As scholars working in DH now, we have to think backwards almost. We're used to looking at text analysis and manipulation in a different way because we've had to integrate those tools and processes pretty damn late. But if we were to teach kids that value of dualism, the awesome human brain and the power of the computer mind would be an incredible thought revolution.

I believe teaching coding early, like we do and encourage with any other language, would enable applicable innovation and creativity within each child. Hybridized thinking processes may be the answer to so many of the problems we struggle to see.

Here is my PechaKucha and script on the topic.