An ongoing revolution... in computing education

These days a lot of people seem to be thinking, "Maybe I could try one of those free online courses and learn how to program." Others say, "What's the point?" (Juliet Waters, in blogging about her New Year’s resolution to learn how to code, explains what the point is.) Some even say, "No! Please don't learn to code!" Fortunately, the last category holds only a tiny minority of people.
The past six months have seen a surge of public interest in computing. The UK is refocusing its pre-university curriculum on information and communications technology to concentrate on the science of computing. (This is good timing; 2012 marks the centenary of the birth of Alan Turing, the London-born founder of computer science.) In the New York Times, Randall Stross writes about computational thinking as a fundamental skill for everyone. When even the mayor of New York City decides to join Code Academy to learn how to program, people take notice. A minor revolution is underway in formal and informal computing education.