Code talkers: St. Matthew's School students learn the basics of computer programming
<p>Ganten Pirrie, a sixth-grader at St. Matthew’s School, works on a computer during the Hour of Code on Thursday.</p>
<p>Darren Fix, a computer programmer with Flathead Electric Cooperative, works with Madison Hammett, a sixth-grader at St. Matthew’s School, during the Hour of Code on Thursday.</p>
The Hour of Code was at hand for St. Matthew’s students Thursday.
Students in kindergarten through eighth grade were introduced to computer science basics such as drag-and-drop programming through popular games such as “Angry Birds” and “Plants vs. Zombies.”
The Hour of Code is part of Computer Science Education Week, which ends Sunday and is organized by Code.org. The organization’s vision is that computer science will be part of the core curriculum in every school.
St. Matthew’s parent Darren Fix, a senior programmer at Flathead Electric Cooperative, came into the classroom to teach students coding Tuesday and Thursday.
“The idea is to get as many kids involved as possible,” Fix said.
Fourth-grader Derek Smith and seventh-grader Colleen Ogg had a fun time during their introduction to the world of computer programming.
“We had a series of moves we could drag and drop into a white screen that would move the angry birds through a maze,” Ogg said.
Each move — or command — resembled a puzzle piece. Instead of instructing the characters to move three times in one command a student would have to drag the command three separate times. When students completed a maze, the puzzle pieces would reveal the actual code that commanded the cartoon birds to move.
To help solidify this concept, Fix pretended to be a robot that needed seemingly repetitive instructions to navigate around desks and get out of the room.
“Computers are simply calculators, but you have to tell them exactly what to do. You can’t just say ‘turn around.’ You have to say ‘turn right, turn right’ until you’re turned around,” Fix said.
While contemporary computers are pre-programmed, Fix feels strongly that students should learn programming. Programming teaches logic, patterns, persistence and problem solving, he said.
Even if a student chooses a career not related to computer science it would be beneficial for students know how to fix their own computers and devices, he added, just as a homeowner would want to know the basics of home repair.
This is why he is excited about computer science initiatives such as the Hour of Code and concepts that bring young people into programming, such as Code Montana.
At 44, Fix has been programming computers professionally for 20 years. He started learning computer programming when he was 8 or 9 years old and operating computers was more difficult.
“Every time I turned off the computer I had to start from scratch,” Fix said.
Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.