Computer Science and Literacy in K-5 Education: A Reciprocal Relationship

Computer Science (CS) is becoming more important within our society, proving itself to be a necessary skill. Anette Vee explores this as she states in her research “..[a]s programming becomes more important, it will leave the back room and become a key skill and attribute of our top intellectual and social classes, just as reading and writing did in the past” (Vee, p. 43). One might ask themselves, if it is such a vital skill, how will we find opportunities to teach it? While there are important CS lessons that should be taught in their own subject, there are also great lessons that teach CS and literacy together. There are many comparisons and bridges between computer science and literacy as seen through literature research. CS and literacy have many parallels, as seen throughout already existing lessons. It is beneficial to have CS lessons embedded in literacy lessons as CS supports literacy learning through the bridging of writing, reading, drafting, and more. CS and literacy have a reciprocal relationship, therefore they should be taught together as opposed to having CS taught as a separate subject