Selecting a Computer Science Online Course for Your Child

Computer Science is one of the most interesting and extremely useful subjects to learn at an early age. The good news is kids can be highly receptive to learning new skills, especially if they are taught in a fun and game-like way. It’s very possible to gamify the topic with computer science and coding because literally, you can make games!

Now, the question is, how can you pique your kids’ interest? Children need to be introduced, taught, and supported throughout the learning and growing processes. What’s even better is the fact that there are many available resources to ease children into the new world of computer science.

These are some of the things you need to consider when choosing a computer science course online for your child:

What is the curriculum?

Students are naturally going to be drawn towards working on a computer. Emerging technologies in both virtual and augmented reality are truly sights to behold. The curriculum you choose for your child must include the knowledge necessary to independently build with technology.

To develop their expertise, there is foundational knowledge that students need to understand to develop their expertise within every discipline including computer science, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and more.

It is very important that kids, also, don’t directly dive into applications (build a mobile app) or text-based programming languages (Ruby on Rails, Python) until they have firmly grasped the foundational principles of algorithm and logic.

What learning platform is the course on?

A wide variety of tools are used by developers and engineers for their job.

A mash-up of software and hardware are also seen coming together within companies. As a result, kids highly benefit from being exposed to as many different software and hardware platforms as possible.

Students develop comfort and knowledge of the pros and cons of various frameworks for a problem under consideration by gaining practice and fluency with switching off between several platforms.

Is the course age-appropriate?

Just like with any courses online and in-person, you have to consider your child’s age when selecting a course. To do this you can read the course’s description and overview. If possible, check out the activities included in the course so you can determine if it is something your child is capable of doing or not.

If you don’t have the time to learn about the course, you can read reviews of parents who’ve chosen the course themselves for their children. However, make sure the reviews are legit. Many parents would leave a description of the course and how it helped their kids. General reviews aren’t very helpful.

How competent is the instructional team?

A team that has capabilities in a broad spectrum of disciplines (art, education, engineering, operations, and programming) is required to teach kids to build technology independently.

The right instructional team’s key hallmarks are those who have either gained practical experience in building with technology within a larger organization or with their own company or studied the technology formally at the undergraduate, graduate, or boot camp level.

Taking online courses is one of the best ways to immerse your kids in the world of computer science and coding. Learn K12 can help you get started today!