I sensed that ThinkQuest involvement would be a very valuable learning experience so responded to Brent immediately, sending him the names and home page URL's of several West Anchorage High School students who I thought were potential teammates. A match was made and the work began. We became involved because it looked like a great way to collaborate on a worthwhile project and we were excited about being engaged in a new challenge and a new contest. Although I'd had little experience with programming languages, I do know that working with them teaches the importance of precision, organization, and problem-solving skills. When students are involved with programming or HTML, I am intrigued by how carefully they handle code, tags, and scripting.
Programming makes instant believers in the fact that one error can result in disaster.
These same students become more receptive of the idea that in mathematics, writing, science and other curriculum areas there is often a right and a wrong. A misplaced negative sign, comma, or chemical symbol can totally change the end result. In my opinion, programming languages, and technology more generally, exhibit tremendous potential as a learning and teaching tool. Staff development in the use of technology is of paramount importance. Knowing when to use it, how to use it, and why to use it needs to be part of every teacher's training.