Coding with Kids
How to organize a successful coding lab.
A story of inclusive, fun, collaborative
learning
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
A bit about me
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Azzurra
Ragone
Women
Techmakers
Lead - Italy
Member of GDG
Bari
CoderMentor
@CoderDojo
Member of
Matera2019
WebTeam
Problem
• How to organize a coding lab for kids which is:
– Fun
– Useful
– Well-designed
– Successful
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Fun: kids do not get bored
#WTM15
Useful: kids learn the logic behind the computational thinking
#WTM15
Well-designed (rules, resources & logistics)
#WTM15
Successful (kids get curious & are eager to learn more)
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
CD is an international network of volunteers
organizing tech labs for kids (7-17 y/old) to
teach them how to code, develop apps,
games and explore technology.
What’s CoderDojo?
James Whelton
Bill Liao
The first Coder Dojo was
launched in 2011 in Cork
More than 600 dojos in the world
…and more than 60 in Italy
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Fun: kids do not get bored
Projects
Passion
Peer
Play
Creative learning methodology
http://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/
Projects
• People learn best when actively working on
projects—generating ideas, designing prototypes,
making improvements, and creating final products.
• Ex: creating a
– video game,
– an app
– something (MakeyMakey)
http://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/
Passion
• When focusing on meaningful tasks, people
work longer and harder, persist in the face of
challenges, and learn more in the process.
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
http://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/
Peer
• Learning flourishes as a social activity-with
people sharing ideas, collaborating on
projects, and building on one another's work
• Ex:
– sharing code
– Peer tutor
http://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/
Play
• Learning involves playful experimentation-
trying new things, tinkering with materials,
testing boundaries, taking risks, and iterating
again and again
http://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/
Summing up: be creative!
• Trial&Error
• Do not be afraid to make mistakes
• Collaboration: share pieces of code
• Be curious: experiment without fear
• Work on concrete problems/projects
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
#WTM15
Useful: kids learn the logic behind the computational thinking
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
CT
Loops
Parallelism
ConditionalsOperators
Data
Computational Thinking
#WTM15
#WTM15
Well-designed (Rules, resources & logistics)
A typical coding session
Tutorial
Snack
Let’s play!
Rules&Logistics
• Mentors ratio: 1/8
• Mentors should be easily identifiable (red t-shirt)
• Make clear the rules at the beginning
• Gesture rules:
– Lift a finger for gesture
– Join hands for applause
• Logistics (do a check list):
– Power strips, microfone, speakers, etc.
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
1. Be curious
2. Kids are competent
3. Be on their side, not in front
4. Doing errors is good
5. Be supportive
6. Don’t say no!
7. Have fun!
7 golden rules for mentors
(Barbara - CoderDojo Milano)
What about parents?
• It is recommended though that parents give
their young people space and freedom to
express creative discovery learning
(Coderdojo.org)
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Attendance Certificates & Feedback
Photo: Marco Quarta
Some feedback
- I have had lots of fun and I
invented a videogame
- It’s supercool, I wanna do
it again
- I have to say that I did not
want to come initially,
because of homework, but
it has been fun. I thought it
was very difficult to create
a videogame, instead it
was very simple and now I
know what to do when I do
not what to do.
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Scratch
LEGO
WeDo
Makey
Makey
Resources
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Or Tablets:
ScratchJr (3-5 y/old)
Scratch for:
Linux
Mac
Windows
Coding with kids
#WTM15
#WTM15
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Lego We Do
Makey Makey
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
#WTM15
Successful (kids get curious & are eager to learn more)
If you mix up all the ingredients!
Resources (Bib)
• CoderDojo’s Opensource Knowledge DB:
• Creative learning
• Computational thinking with Scratch
• LEGO WeDo + Scratch
• Peer tutor
• Let’s teach kids to code – TEDx Talk by Mitch Resnick
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Tools&Resources
• Scratch:
• LEGO WeDo:
• Makey Makey:
• Made with code (lots of fun games, various levels)
• Code.org (classes, tutorials, etc.)
• Pencil Code Gim (Open source coding lab allowing kids to
draw, play music & create fiction)
• Blockly (blocks to introduce fundamental coding concepts)
• MIT app inventor (drag&drop interface to create android
app – middle school & up)
• More on “Google for Education”
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
European Capital of Culture 2019
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Contacts
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
https://about.me/azzurraragone
google.com/+AzzurraRagone
@azzurraragone
Thanks to:
 All my CoderDojo friends @CoderDojoMT,
especially @Piersoft
 Thanks to Nick for the #bigcoderdojo video
 And finally thanks to Matera2019
#GDGSummit15 #GDGBari

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Coding with kids

Editor's Notes

  • #3: How many of you do you know what is a CoderDojo?
  • #4: The problem that we want to address
  • #11: James (then 18 year-old coder) received some publicity after hacking the iPod Nano
  • #18: Peer-education: kids teach each other. Enroll mentor among people that have done a already a coderdojo.
  • #20: Creativity comes as a result of trial and error, collaboration, curiosity, being fearless and experimenting: children learn when they play Our kids today are terrified of taking risks, of getting something wrong,”
  • #22: loops: running the same sequence multiple times - parallelism: making things happen at the same time – conditionals: making decisions based on conditions operators: support for mathematical and logical expressions - data: storing, retrieving, and updating values http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/ct/defining.html
  • #23: As young people design interactive media with Scratch, they engage with a set of computational concepts that are common in many programming languages. sequence: identifying a series of steps for a task
  • #26: Do a list of all you need: how many power strips, speakers, etc.? Make always an inspection of the place where you are gonna do your coding lab
  • #35: Enhance a video games building on top of it
  • #37: http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/LEGO%C2%AE_WeDo%E2%84%A2_Construction_Set Dancing birds, Drumming monkey, Hungry Alligator, Roaring lion, Flying bird, Goal kicker, Cheerful fans, airplane, Giant escape, sailboat storm
  • #42: Among the reasons that led the jury to choose matera there is the commitment to teach kids how to code, which is a fundamental skill for the future.