Send Your Kid for Free Coding Classes at the CoderDojo
Our children are the leaders of tomorrow. Whether that excites you, or terrifies you, we need to prepare them for the big, bad world they'll soon be commanding. With technology starting to affect nearly every aspect of our lives, it's necessary to ensure they know how to use computers and the internet. However, one non-profit in Ireland recently took things a step further with free classes that teach children to code. Now, thanks to a partnership with GitHub, the organization will soon take on North America.
GitHub today announced that it had teamed up with CoderDojo to open their first Dojo in the United States. The Dojo will teach children between the ages of 7- and 18-years-old to code and develop websites, apps, programs, games and more, and will be located in the GitHub offices. The first session is scheduled for 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on February 25 and GitHub is encouraging kids to sign up on CoderDojo's website. As with all of CoderDojo's clubs, each class is taught by a professional in the given topic and if your kid doesn't have a laptop to use during the session, one will be provided for him or her.
CoderDojo was started by an Irish student James Whelton. Sometime in early 2011, while Whelton was still in high school, he garnered some publicity for hacking his iPad Nano. As a result, some of his classmates expressed an interest in learning how to code, so Whelton started teaching people basic HTML and CSS. A few months later, he met Bill Liao, an entrepreneur and philanthropist that wanted to grow the project beyond after-school sessions in a school computer lab. Liao and Whelton founded CoderDojo and opened up their first Dojo in June 2011, in the National Software Centre in Cork. A huge success, the Dojo had regular attendees that were traveling from Dublin (well over 100 miles) just to participate in classes. Soon, additional Dojos were opened up around Ireland, including one in Google Europe's office in Dublin.
You can learn more about CoderDojo, including how to join, volunteer, or start one, here.
After reading this it certainly helps it lean a little more towards excitement.
Where are you Mr. Miyagi ?
After reading this it certainly helps it lean a little more towards excitement.
San Francisco is a little too far though, so I guess we will follow this for a while.
Why do you not want your kids to touch a computer? Realize as well that your entire statement makes you sound a bit like a hypocrite. A computer (by extension I am including the Internet) is one of the best ways to be empowered by having access to the truth in the world. By blocking access to a computer, you are censoring information. Why don't you just send your kids to North Korea?
Where are you Mr. Miyagi ?
I think this idea of exposing kids to the innards of programming at such young ages is brilliant. Not only does it give these young kids basic fundamentals of what goes inside the computer in terms of software, but it could also easily help discover/channel some of these kids' interest into something that would be an awesome skill to have at a young age. Amazing talent could easily come out of CoderDojo.
I've had a similar experience happen personally to me. I came to college only having a rough idea of what I wanted to major in. I saw one of my EE friends taking an intro CptS course, and I decided I wanted to take it the next spring. After taking that intro course, next thing I know I'm teaching myself PHP, CSS, HTML, sql queries, a dash of javascript, and I'm reading up on how to set up a linux server. Now a year later after seeing the first bit of code in my life, I'm engaging with Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook about possibly getting an internship this summer. It's been great!
Simple stuff for sure, but a good start.
For the love of God, and the human race, PLEASE do not reproduce. But, if you must...
1. Obama has a Blackberry. SmartPhones are computers....
2. A lawyer will need a computer to hold client database and manage finances...
3. A psychiatrist...by time you have kids, and they get to school, they might not have textbooks anymore, due to rising costs. They might have to depend on tablets for college education...
Sorry, I guess your anti-computer rant is lost.
http://groups.google.com/group/coderdojo-edmonton
Twitter: @CoderDojoEdmAB
why do you need /sarcasm to understand it?
Reminds me of that old joke
wife: go to the market, get 6 eggs, and if they have milk, get one;
husband gets one egg, because they had milk at the market.
well, on here is seems people hate apple/istuff, but the apple system is great for seeing your results in action after and the hard work.... of course selling it is a different story... like alll things.