Can Everyone Code?

Abstract

The learn-to-code movement is no longer just supported in computer science classrooms; instead, coding instruction has proliferated widely throughout the kindergarten through 12th-grade levels. Yet, educators are just beginning to understand the complexities with teaching students to code. In this research, the authors posit that coding is a language that can be taught through a literacy-based lens. In this chapter, the authors share findings from a study that examined pre-service teachers' aptitudes, interests, and background knowledge for teaching Swift to elementary school students. In addition, the authors explain how teachers were able to transfer what they learned about coding in Swift Playgrounds to a similar task on a different platform. The chapter ends with examples of how primary-grade teachers employed aspects of literacy instruction to teach basic coding using a variety of applications and tools.