Communications of the ACM
Aspiring Coders Hone Their Skills at Coderdojo
Ten-year-olds create a game in the CoderDojo session at the Sunnybank Library in Brisbane, Australia.
Credit: Rosanna Ryan / ABC Multiplatform
Australia's Brisbane City Council has launched a CoderDojo program to teach children basic software development skills from volunteer mentors. Volunteers help participants aged seven to 17 learn to code using programs such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Scratch and Carnegie Mellon University's Alice, with some advanced participants learning the Python environment.
CoderDojo is free and aims to give children the preparation they need for a world in which technology is playing a larger role, says Brisbane city councillor Julian Simmonds. "This is an opportunity not only to teach them coding in a very friendly and relaxed environment, but also to join them with mentors who can help encourage their entrepreneurial spirit," Simmonds says. "If we can really foster that entrepreneurial and startup spirit here in Brisbane we're going to set our economy on the right track for many years to come."
The pilot program began with a single library in July and has already grown to include two additional libraries, with plans for further expansion. CoderDojo is a worldwide movement with clubs in more than 200 cities; Brisbane is the first Australian city to participate.
From ABC Brisbane
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2013 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found