> One lesson centred upon Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old high school pupil who was arrested in 2015 on suspicion of building a hoax bomb when he brought a self-assembled clock to school.
I remember that one, then later reading how it wasn't really a self-assembled clock but just a taken apart 70's or 80's clock that was put in a different case.
> Mr Mims aims not for lecturing, but for dialogue
In that spirit wonder how much Mr. Mims allows discussion of Ahmed being in on the idea of provoking a response. He packaged the disassembled clock in a briefcase then after being told to put it away and keep it his backpack for the rest of the day he took it out later and set an alarm on it. I think it is an interesting discussion how fear / xenophobia / prejudices can be taken advantage of in multiple ways.
Later on the family demanded $15M compensation from the school district with a threat to file a lawsuit. Wonder if that is on the allowed spectrum of discussion in the classroom as well.
Not sure why you phrased this so combatively. The whole point of having a discussion is to "allow" stuff like this. Discussions are usually pretty boring if everyone agrees, and the idea here seems to be getting people more engaged.
It's phrased combatively because wording like "self-assembled clock" plants an intentional picture of naivety. I'm okay with HN readers pointing out when it happens.
> He puts printed pictures of Mohamed on the wall, and asks students to scan them via an app. A menu of items pops up instantly: Mohamed’s Twitter feed; a 360-degree view of an interrogation room (meant to simulate the one Mohamed was taken to); a SoundCloud song; a quiz; a hip-hop video produced by Mr Mims.
What was this a lesson for? (My knee jerk reaction makes me feel like that was politicized.. but I don't know the full story so I won't put that out there)
I'm not sure why it matters. This seems like a textbook case of meeting students where they're at. Find something to catch their attention, something they might be interested in. The detail or right/wrong don't actually matter in the context of trying to catch and keep a kid's attention.
I found the rapping HTML tags to be far more cringe-worthy.
I found the title "Hustling 101: How to Turn Your Code into Cash" to be more cringe-worthy. Sorry but Hip-Hop music/culture is what is keeping people down.
Despite "How X is introducing kids to coding!" perhaps being a common trope, this is not a click-bait article, in my opinion. They're real-world events providing positive experiences mixing art and technology for kids and adults.
Ben Horowitz is a hip-hop fan too, see his book Hard thing about hard things, I like the fact the Hip-hop can be used to instruct technology and business and make things interesting.
I don't want to be rude, but are you looking for something more than a reply that just says 'Yes' or something? Searching for anything like "facebook php hip hop" would easily answer your question.
I remember that one, then later reading how it wasn't really a self-assembled clock but just a taken apart 70's or 80's clock that was put in a different case.
http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice/2015/09/17/reverse-engin...
> Mr Mims aims not for lecturing, but for dialogue
In that spirit wonder how much Mr. Mims allows discussion of Ahmed being in on the idea of provoking a response. He packaged the disassembled clock in a briefcase then after being told to put it away and keep it his backpack for the rest of the day he took it out later and set an alarm on it. I think it is an interesting discussion how fear / xenophobia / prejudices can be taken advantage of in multiple ways.
Later on the family demanded $15M compensation from the school district with a threat to file a lawsuit. Wonder if that is on the allowed spectrum of discussion in the classroom as well.