EducationNews.org

As you know “Children of the Code” has two meanings. One, that approximately 100 million people in the U.S. alone are living lives significantly diminished by their difficulties with reading. The other, that we are all children of the code in the sense that everything about our modern world; our science, law, politics, organizations, and technologies are all outgrowths of what the code made and makes possible in our minds. These two meanings are of course related. To really understand the challenge of learning to read we must understand the code.

I would like to start by getting a sense of how you came to your work. I like our readers understand the mental lenses that people bring to their work. So let’s start with what's propelling your learning, your interest - with a brief background sketch that includes what’s motivating you. Dr. Marketa Caravolas: Well, probably a big part of the reason for my interests in cross-linguistic studies is the fact that I come from a multilingual background myself. And for many years I lived and worked in a multi-language environment. My mother tongue is Czech, but I grew up in Montreal, which you probably know is a bilingual city. So I had to learn to speak French, but I was mainly educated in English. So you see, multiple languages have always been in the picture.

The 'code' is every bit as much a 'technology' as the computer you are viewing this page on. Just as your computer reads the 'code' this webpage is written in and constructs the page you see, so too is your brain constructing the words you are recognizing from the code these words are written in. Both are code instructed and informed virtual technological processes. Both are artificial.

Our interview with Dr. Hanushek explores his pioneering research into the correlations between attributes of student learning and achievement and attributes of schools, teachers, and teaching quality.

Though readiness and readiness differentiated instruction can reduce the difficulty, working through the code's confusing letter-sound relationships is what most challenges the brains of most struggling readers. There is a direct and causal relationship between confusion in the code and the stutters heard in the voice of a struggling reader. Obviously, understanding this confusion is critical to understanding the challenges involved in learning to read.

In this chapter we explore some key factors and issues related to how children's early learning trajectories determine their level of readiness for taking on the challenges involved in learning to read:

In this chapter we explore many of the key factors and issues related to how the early learning trajectories of children determine their level of readiness for taking on the challenges involved in learning to read:

The virtual language experience we call reading is constructed by our brains according to instructions and information contained in a code.