Prof. Wing at Carnegie Mellon coined the term "computational thinking." The term is actually a bit difficult to describe. Personally, I don't think even Prof. Wing has captured it's essence in a pithy phrase yet. For those who are familiar with computer science this definition resonates.
Computational thinking is really about applying what mankind is learning by working with computers to the everyday problems of society. I particularly like the historical analogy that Prof. Wing uses to describe the potential significance of computational thinking. The analogy is to the invention of the printing press. The printing press had a profound affect on societal development by enabling wide spread dispersion of reading, writing, & arithmetic skills, and resultant development of problem solving, design and human understanding capacities. The computer is comparable to the printing press in that it encourages wide spread learning about computational thinking and is already clearly having a profound affect on future societal development.
Computational thinking involves solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior, by drawing on the concepts fundamental to computer science.
Computational thinking is really about applying what mankind is learning by working with computers to the everyday problems of society. I particularly like the historical analogy that Prof. Wing uses to describe the potential significance of computational thinking. The analogy is to the invention of the printing press. The printing press had a profound affect on societal development by enabling wide spread dispersion of reading, writing, & arithmetic skills, and resultant development of problem solving, design and human understanding capacities. The computer is comparable to the printing press in that it encourages wide spread learning about computational thinking and is already clearly having a profound affect on future societal development.
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