As this CBC article reports, "Today, computing is involved in almost all aspects of our lives, from communications and education to social media, banking, information, security and shopping. Networked computers are capable of controlling our homes’ thermostats and lighting, our cars and our health records... Computational thinking allows preschoolers to grasp concepts like algorithms, recursion and heuristics—even if they don’t understand the terms, they’ll learn the basic concepts."
I had the privilege of working with Dr. Cathy Adams at the U of A on some research during my Education degree, and she was interviewed here and here about coding in our curriculum, saying, "This is not about raising a generation of coders, but about educating a new generation of creative, engaged and ethical citizens who are able to understand, participate and critically evaluate the new digital landscapes that we are increasingly working, playing and living in."
You can read more about the thinking behind students being exposed to coding here, and we will keep you updated on our further adventures in coding!