Enthusiasm about teaching kids to code is great, but to rise above being a "fad" to something we actually implement in schools, we really do need to ask hard questions, such as:

**Do simple point and click interfaces really teach programming languages?
**Are these platforms crowding out time for tried and true basics in the school day, like art, PE and traditional languages?
**Are schools over spending on technology platforms that don't really serve their best interests?

Check out this debate forum started last week on the New York Times. It's value is just as much in the comments as the articles themselves, so follow it and see where you fall in how you feel about how organizations like code.org present "tech for all".

Personally, I think the debate, both pro and con, overlooks that tech in the classroom gives us "both/and", instead of traditional "either/or" options and we must think about it this way to avoid oversimplifying how we introduce coding to kids, and remind ourselves that the beauty of tech is that you can use it to enhance offering arts, PE, and traditional languages, and take advantage of cloud computing to avoid acquiring expensive hardware dinosaurs.

I feel hopeful about the next tech generation challenging corporate tech and taking it the next step, like the grad student working on a Department of Defense funded robotics project for gun stabilization, and having the creativity and courage to branch out to use that same tech to build and market motion stabilizing eating utensils for Parkinson's patients. And I hope to be in my programming field long enough where I work side by side with a colleague who got their start using Scratch ;) It will happen!