Carolyn.. it gets worse. When we don't invest in gifted kids, they're probably the ones most likely to become "successful" (cyber)criminals. (At least that's my recollection from my youth - the real troublemakers where the kids who were smart, and disillusioned.)
The popularity of things like Scratch (and Logo before it) make me wonder if there's a fundamental cognitive difference between a) folks who like to start out by typing (mousing) commands on computers, and watching things happen, then maybe starting to dig under the hood; and b) folks who like to start by taking things apart, then putting things together, and building up to the point where all you see are commands on a screen. (Me, I started by taking watches apart; then it was erector sets, tinker toys, chemistry sets, and Heathkits. Software came a lot later - of course, that was the 60s, the first minicomputers started showing up when I was in high school.)
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Carolyn.. it gets worse. When we don't invest in gifted kids, they're probably the ones most likely to become "successful" (cyber)criminals. (At least that's my recollection from my youth - the real troublemakers where the kids who were smart, and disillusioned.)
The popularity of things like Scratch (and Logo before it) make me wonder if there's a fundamental cognitive difference between a) folks who like to start out by typing (mousing) commands on computers, and watching things happen, then maybe starting to dig under the hood; and b) folks who like to start by taking things apart, then putting things together, and building up to the point where all you see are commands on a screen. (Me, I started by taking watches apart; then it was erector sets, tinker toys, chemistry sets, and Heathkits. Software came a lot later - of course, that was the 60s, the first minicomputers started showing up when I was in high school.)