Is Computer Science A Foreign Language? Ga. Says Yes, Sees Boost In Enrollment

Michael Reilly , right, helps students in a technology class at Lanier High School in Buford, Georgia.

Kaitlin Kolarik / WABE

After the bell rings at Lanier High School in Buford, Georgia, Michael Reilly asks to see his students’ faces, because most are hidden behind computer screens.

Reilly is a technology teacher at the Center for Digital Technology (CDAT) at Lanier High School, where he teaches an elective class called Programming, Games, Apps and Society. Students work in teams or individually at their own pace to build their own apps for Android phones this semester.

To build these apps, the students are learning how to code in the programming language Java.