In this interview with Jon Stapleton, we discuss metaphors for education and facilitating, the importance of community and navigating inappropriate content online, how programming languages and platforms influence learning, theories and philosophies that inform Jon’s practice, critical code studies, and much more.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

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00:00 Introduction

00:56 Jon's introduction

01:13 Computer science educator and recovering music teacher

03:31 How music and CS evolved for Jon

05:02 Teaching yourself how to code

10:51 What is a teacher-artist?

14:14 Problematizing "facilitator"

16:35 When teachers aren't experts in a domain

18:58 Teacher as dungeon master

22:44 How communities have impacted Jon's ability to learn

27:04 How Jon tries to foster a sense of community in their classroom

31:09 A caveat when encouraging kids to participate in a community

33:54 Teachers shouldn't ban technology without talking about it first

37:03 Affordances and constraints of programming languages in CS classes

48:05 Theories and philosophies that inform Jon's approach to education

01:00:50 When theories of education are out-of-touch

01:06:48 How Jon continues to evolve/refine their approach to education

01:08:37 A continuum of creativity through projects

01:15:21 A question for the field

01:16:14 How to connect with Jon