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.
