Teaching Coal Miners to Code with MIT App Inventor

We propose teaching coal miners computational thinking and helping them acquire skills that can open new work opportunities in Appalachia.

As blue-collar jobs such as coal mining disappear, computational literacy is now a priority in rural Appalachia to nurture new generations of web developers, programers and IT workers that will eventually contribute to the nation's digital workforce just like their counterparts in more urban areas. Workforce development organizations in Kentucky are now considering testing whether MIT AppInventor can help catalyze this new workforce and overcome some of the psychological, infrastructural and sociological barriers. 

Lagging infrastructure, patterns of addiction, and economic marginalization play a role in transforming the workforce in rural Appalachia. We wish to understand more about these barriers. Many coal field miners see themselves as bystanders to the digital revolution. With this project, we will explore how they can learn to become active contributors. 

Our goals in this project are: 
Help people imagine future work beyond what they currently believe as possible 
Explore psychological and cultural barriers to the development of computational literacy 
Empower people to create change in their areas using computational action 
Help people feel confident with engaging with unfamiliar technologies 
Create greater understanding of the factors that empower people to become change agents for their communities 
Establish a curriculum that could be used more broadly 
Support workforce development initiatives by creating a better path for retraining workers 

Over a few months, we will train small groups of educators from rural Appalachia to create their own curricula using MIT AppInventor and, in turn, train larger cohorts of blue collar workers back home. Using validated teaching tools in classrooms and online, we explore how MIT AppInventor can impart new skills by incorporating domain knowledge (e.g., coal mining, fleet management, EMT responders, etc.). Experiencing small successes in useful apps will encourage people to pursue further skill acquisition in two- or four-year colleges, or in other professional training.

Esquel Group, a Hong Kong textile manufacturer which employs 57,000 people, developed a program to transform their less technically-minded workforce into one that embraces computational thinking in problem-solving and collaboration and launched a “You Can Code” campaign using MIT App Inventor as a platform.

We are applying a similar approach to teach underemployed coal miners in rural Kentucky to use MIT App Inventor and create usable web apps of their own that they can deploy. Our approach is to help people overcome perceived barriers to becoming programmers by helping them take small steps toward computational thinking that demonstrate immediate results.

MIT AppInventor is a free visual programming environment that allows one to build fully functional apps for smartphones and tablets. Those new to MIT App Inventor can have a simple first app up and running in minutes.

Blocks programming environments like MIT App Inventor have become a popular method for introducing coding to those with no experience in text-based languages. Unlike other blocks-based coding programs that inspire intellectual and creative empowerment, MIT App Inventor has enabled real-world empowerment to achieve social impact of immeasurable value to their communities.

In order to be effective members of the 21st century digital society, the workers of tomorrow need feel empowered to be producers of digital media, rather than just consumers. We will be training MIT App Inventor to teachers from rural Kentucky who will come to MIT in August. In turn, these teachers will be developing their own curricula and teach cohorts of former coal miners over several weeks during the weekends. These students will work together in groups conceiving and designing solutions to problems and will later compete in a hackathon that will take place in the fall.

This project will raise awareness of entrance into the digital industry as one avenue for community lift, teach marginalized coal miners basic computational literacy, and learn to better understand their barriers to personal and community change.  Our first goal includes a high visibility event demonstrating the possibilities to the community. Our second goal is to demonstrate proof of concept using App Inventor to ready adults for participation in the digital economy. Finally, we plan to launch similar projects in other communities in the U.S. facing similar challenges.

The work plan for this project will progress over approximately six weeks once the project is funded and launched. The three phases of the project are train-the-trainer, i.e., teach qualified instructors how to conduct an MIT App Inventor training in a classroom setting (three full days); classroom instruction (spread over a period of weeks) culminating in a regional hackathon where the cohort participants will apply their newly-acquired skills in MIT App Inventor to create prototypes of their ideas.

There are examples of studies demonstrating the validity of MIT App Inventor as a platform for learning to code. Refugees in Germany are learning rudiments of coding, nurses are learning to create and deploy tools for women's health, and young journalists are using MIT AppInventor as a new way to capture and share content. We are partnering with EKCEP and other workplace development organizations in rural Kentucky during our first phase to train about 60 former coal miners with MIT App Inventor.

Over the first year, we will train four cohorts of about 15 people each. About six instructors who go through the Master Trainers class at MIT in August will later create the curriculum and teach in various regions in rural Kentucky. We plan to host a coding hackathon in Kentucky in late fall so that learners may demonstrate their new skills, and can recruit new cohorts for future classes. We will be measuring impact primarily through attitude surveys both before and after the classes. We expect within 3 years to broaden to other underserved and challenged communities in the U.S. 

Hal Abelson is well-known for his work in undergraduate computing education and is a co-author of the classic text Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. He is a leader in the global movement for Open Educational Resources and a founding board member of the Free Software Foundation and Creative Commons.

Mark Sherman has worked with teacher and students of all ages, helping them learn about engineering, robotics, and computer science. Mark has a PhD in Computer Science specializing in CS Education research at UMass Lowell.

After this pilot, we plan on applying for funding from education and workforce development grants from the NSF. Similar awards from the NSF already exist that are aimed at engineers. We believe that we can show that a component of the underemployed workforce of rural Kentucky can be competitive in a digital workforce first by overcoming psychological barriers. Once that is demonstrated, we plan on seeking additional government and foundational funding.

Solve offers a rich network of entrepreneurs, researchers and technology executives who share in the vision for empowering a local workforce through STEM education. Solve's founders and network are deeply rooted in MIT and our team is either currently at MIT or an MIT alumnus. We plan on tapping into more faculty, students and alumni networks as our project grows.

We've developed our solution so far to address one specific need, namely, to help former coal miners overcome a psychological barrier to participating in digital transformation of their careers. MIT App Inventor can help them breach this barrier, but MIT App Inventor by itself is insufficient to get a job. We will need to further build the training path outwards and we think Solve can help us make connections with partners that can help.