(versione italiana qua)
My previous article, Coding or informatics, that is the question, sparked quite a debate on social media. I was "told off" for supposedly pitting coding against informatics. In reality, not only is that not what I wrote, it was never my intention. I simply wanted to clarify the relationship between coding and informatics. Coding is certainly part of informatics, but framing the teaching of coding as the solution for making schools digital is reductive. The subject that needs to be taught in schools is informatics, as evidenced by the curricula proposed or already in place in the USA, the UK, and France, to name just a few countries.
I will now elaborate on my position, which I have already expressed in several other articles. Some recent examples can be found here, here, and here.
Let me start with an observation that may seem obvious, but is nonetheless useful: words do not have meanings assigned by some higher authority. They take on whatever meaning we give them in practice.
"Coding" until a few years ago had one meaning only: writing computer code, that is, the activity of computer programming. More recently, there has been a push to reinterpret the term as something new and distinct from informatics, with this distinction being repeatedly emphasised.
Arguing that "coding is not informatics" and trying to prove that coding is something separate from it stands in the way of the ultimate goal: having informatics taught in schools as a subject in its own right, recognised and fully regarded as a "science" on a par with mathematics, physics, and biology.
I believe this is a serious strategic mistake, for several reasons.
First of all, history tells us that "coding" is associated with writing code (i.e. computer programs), which is only one part of informatics as a whole and does not even cover the entire software development process. Granted, educational innovators and pioneers invest the term with a broad and noble meaning. But society at large, politicians, and the media do not perceive it that way. The "low", operational interpretation risks winning out. Have you ever come across the criticism that goes: "what's the point of teaching my child to write code — before long, AI systems will be writing all the software anyway"?
Furthermore, in Italy — and not only there, though that is no consolation — people will openly say "I've never been able to get my head around maths," while no one would dare admit "I don't know Italian." Against this bleak backdrop for the sciences, where we also rightly lament that our schools produce students with very little knowledge of our artistic and musical heritage (unique in the world!), I do not think it is wise to use a term with such a hands-on, applied connotation when referring to a school subject. It does not bode well.
Finally, the world and society are now increasingly defined by digital activities and interactions, underpinned by a technology that shapes and permeates more and more of what we do and how we relate to one another — think, for instance, of the issues surrounding privacy and fake news. The notion of being a "digital citizen" has become part of everyday conversation. And yet, for that it is not enough to have grown up surrounded by digital devices we learned to use before we could even speak, nor is it enough to learn how to programme them. What is needed is an education, from the earliest years of schooling, in the science that makes all of this possible. Learning informatics is essential for understanding, participating in, shaping, and contributing to the democratic development of society. It is fundamental to being the authors, rather than mere spectators, of one's own future.
I strongly urge everyone to read carefully the international research on informatics education and the national school curricula proposed in countries such as the USA, the UK, and France. These speak of computing or computer science as the discipline taught in schools, while coding — where used at all — refers to the activity of computer programming.
It is clear that when informatics is used in a "cross-disciplinary" way — that is, in the context of other subjects, to explore and understand related phenomena (which is essentially what happens in coding practice) — it can seem as though something entirely new is taking place. I can understand the enthusiasm of those who feel they have discovered a new continent, but it is informatics all the same.
When mathematics is used in medicine or literary studies, it is still called mathematics, because it is the same discipline regardless of the purpose it is applied to. The scientific power of informatics — equal in this respect to that of mathematics — and its great beauty lies precisely in this cross-disciplinary quality.
One can certainly use the term "coding" to convey this cross-disciplinary application; I have no objection to that, as long as it is made clear that we are still talking about informatics.
Let us keep our eyes on the strategic goal: getting informatics taught in schools. Let us not place coding outside the realm of informatics, and let us not get drawn into semantic squabbles. Let us try to be constructive — our country needs it.
--The original version (in italian) has been published by "Il Fatto Quotidiano" on 5 October 2018.
