Schlagwort: CoderDojo

  • Celebrating the community: Yang

    Celebrating the community: Yang

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    We love hearing from members of the community and sharing the stories of amazing young people, volunteers, and educators who are using their passion for technology to create positive change in the world around them.

    A woman is pictured sitting in the office. There's a window behind her with a view of the London skyline.

    In our latest story, we’re heading to London to meet Yang, a Manager in Technology Consulting at EY specialising in Microsoft Business Applications, whose commitment to CoderDojo is truly inspiring. Yang’s passion for volunteering has grown since she first volunteered at a CoderDojo club at a local museum. In recent years, she has actively searched for ways to bring the CoderDojo movement to more children, and encouraged her colleagues to come along on the journey too.

    Introducing Yang

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOPK4I-zBn8?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    When Yang was growing up, both of her parents worked in STEM, but her own journey into a career in technology took a varied route. After initially studying journalism in China, her path shifted when she pursued a Master’s in Digital Humanities at UCL, London, broadening her digital skills and paving the way for her current role.

    On a weekend visit to a museum, Yang found the opportunity to volunteer at their CoderDojo. This experience sparked an enthusiasm to create more opportunities for young people to explore the world of computing, and this soon evolved into a plan to implement clubs at the EY offices. 

    Building a community of mentors

    With support from the EY Corporate Responsibility team, and fellow colleagues, Yang started to deliver Dojo sessions at the EY office in London. From the very first session, Yang was blown away by the level of enthusiasm among her colleagues, and their willingness to volunteer their time to support the club. She soon realised it was possible to roll this initiative out to other offices around the country, expanding the volunteer network and increasing their impact.

    Yang mentors two young learners during a CoderDojo session.

    Clubs have now been run in four EY offices across the UK, and the team has even seen the first international club take place, at the EY office in Baku, Azerbaijan. In total, EY clubs have seen around 350 young people attend and give coding a go.

    Championing diversity in tech

    As a woman in tech, Yang is all too aware of the gender imbalance in the industry, and this is something she wanted the clubs at the EY offices to address. 

    “If there are some female role models, I think for a little girl grow up that means so much. Because if they can see somebody thrive in this industry, they will see themselves there one day. And that’s the inspiration.” – Yang

    Yang actively encourages female participation in Dojo sessions, for example through holding sessions with a focus on engaging girls to mark International Women’s Day and Ada Lovelace Day. Through her leadership, she creates an inclusive environment where girls can envision themselves as future leaders. 

    Yang mentors a young person during a CoderDojo session.

    Yang’s motivation doesn’t only inspire the young people attending her clubs, but also resonates with those who work with her on a daily basis, including colleagues like Iman and Elizabeth, who shared how much they admire Yang’s dedication and energy.

    “I would love to have had a role model like [Yang] when I was younger. She’s just so inspiring. She’s so full of energy. I mean, from my personal experience, when I was younger, we didn’t have anything to do with coding.

    There were situations where I was vaguely interested [in computing] but was told that it wasn’t for girls. And now with Yang running these events, seeing the girls come here and being so interested and wanting to learn, it really opens up so many more doors for them that they don’t even realise.” – Elizabeth, colleague and CoderDojo volunteer

    Seeing the impact of her mentorship and the enthusiasm of young participants has fueled Yang’s passion even further. 

    “This has been a great opportunity to set up CoderDojo sessions for young people. I’ve had a lot of support from colleagues and other volunteers who have helped to run the sessions […] I feel super proud of what we’ve achieved so far.” – Yang

    For Yang, mentorship isn’t just about teaching technical skills; it’s about helping young people develop confidence and resilience, and letting everyone know there is a place for them in computing should they want one.

    Two mentors deliver a presentation during a CoderDojo session.

    Continuing to make a difference in her community and beyond, Yang recently participated in the 68th annual UN Women’s Commission on the Status of Women, which is the UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment. 

    We’re delighted to be part of Yang’s journey, and can’t wait to see what she contributes to the world of tech next.

    Help us celebrate Yang and her inspiring journey by sharing her story on X, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    Website: LINK

  • The Clubs Conference is coming back

    The Clubs Conference is coming back

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Following the huge success of last year’s Clubs Conference, we are delighted to announce that we will be hosting the second-ever Clubs Conference on Saturday 30 November and Sunday 1 December 2024 in Cambridge, UK.

    Two educators at a conference.

    The event will be a weekend of learning and connecting for volunteers and educators involved in Code Club, CoderDojo, and other initiatives we support. We’d love for you to join us!

    What you can look forward to

    This year, we’re bringing the conference home to our offices in the centre of Cambridge.

    On Friday 29 November, you’ll have the opportunity to register early and attend an informal networking event with community members, including the Foundation team. 

    Saturday 30 November and Sunday 1 December will be filled with learning and development opportunities for you, including:

    • Thought-provoking talks and discussions
    • Hands-on, easy-to-follow workshops exploring a range of coding and digital making activities and related topics
    • Opportunities to connect with a diverse range of volunteers and educators

    Join us to learn from your peers running clubs in various contexts, develop your digital making skills, and share your own insights. We look forward to learning with you.

    Two smiling educators hold the Code Club posters.

    Interested in attending or contributing to the Clubs Conference?

    If you think you might want to attend the Clubs Conference, please fill in our form to express your interest. We will then get in touch when you can book your tickets. Tickets will be £5 for both days combined.

    An educator delivers a presentation during a workshop.

    Part of what made last year’s Clubs Conference so special was the range of exciting activities led by community members. If you’d like to host or co-host an activity this year, please also indicate this in the expression of interest form. We’ll be in touch in a few weeks to ask you more about your plans.

    Possible activities include:

    • Workshops
    • Discussion sessions
    • Talks
    • Project demonstrations

    Check out last year’s talks for inspiration.

    Bursaries for participants in the UK and Ireland

    If you would love to participate but you feel the costs of travelling would prevent you, you may be able to apply for a travel bursary. 

    To be eligible for a bursary, you need to:

    • Be registered as a club leader or volunteer at a Code Club or CoderDojo within the UK or Ireland
    • Be available to attend the Clubs Conference in Cambridge on both Saturday 30 November and Sunday 1 December 2024

    Please let us know whether you require a travel bursary when you fill in the expression of interest form.

    If you’re not in the UK or Ireland and have any questions about travel, please send us a message through our contact page using the subject ‘Clubs Conference’.

    If you have any suggestions about the Clubs Conference, we’d love to hear them. Let us know through the contact page, or on social with the tag #ClubsCon24.

    Website: LINK

  • Gaining skills and confidence: The impact of Code Club and CoderDojo

    Gaining skills and confidence: The impact of Code Club and CoderDojo

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Through Code Club and CoderDojo we support the world’s largest network of free informal computing clubs for young people.

    • Code Club is a global network of after-school coding clubs for learners aged 9 to 13, where educators and other volunteers help young people learn about coding and digital making
    • CoderDojo is a worldwide network of free, open, and community-based programming clubs for young people aged 7 to 17, where they get the opportunity to learn how to create fantastic new things with technology

    The clubs network reaches young people in 126 countries across the globe, and we estimate that the 4,557 Code Clubs and 771 CoderDojos are attended by more than 200,000 young people globally. 

    Two children code on laptops while an adult supports them.

    All these clubs are run by incredible volunteers and educators who help young people to learn computing and coding. Every year, we ask the volunteers to tell us about their experiences in our annual clubs survey. Below we share some highlights from this year’s survey results.

    About the survey

    We want to know more about volunteers in the network, how they run their clubs, and what impact the club sessions have for young people. Understanding this better helps us to improve the support we give to volunteers and young people around the world. This year we received over 300 responses, which has given us valuable insights and feedback.

    What are the clubs like?

    Improving gender balance in computing is part of our work to ensure equitable learning opportunities for all young people. Girls’ participation in the CodeDojo community has risen from 30% to 35% between 2023 and 2024, while 40% of Code Club attendees are girls.

    Three learners working at laptops.

    Clubs are using a wide variety of technologies and tools to support young people with their coding. According to the survey, the most popular coding tool was Scratch, which nearly all of the volunteers said they used in their club. Over 60% of volunteers reported using micro:bits, and over 50% mentioned Python.

    What impact is the clubs network having?

    We asked volunteers to tell us what changes they had seen in young people as a result of being part of a club. Volunteers fed back to us about the positive community created by clubs where young people felt safe and included. This was evidenced by the way young people felt able to share their ideas and support other young people:

    A young person shows off their Scratch code projected onto a wall.

    “The more experienced members are both capable and competent to demonstrate their skills to less experienced children. For example, they recently ran a full-day session for the whole school to complete the Astro Pi Mission Zero project.” – Code Club volunteer

    Volunteers reported increases in young people’s skills and confidence in digital making and engaging with technology (see graph below). They also agreed that young people developed other skills, with nearly 90% noting improvements in problem solving, personal confidence, and creative thinking.

    A graph indicating that more than 90% of survey respondents reported that young people improve their skills and confidence through attending Code Club or CoderDojo.

    How are we supporting volunteers?

    These positive outcomes are the result of the hard work and dedication of the club volunteers. Based on the survey, we estimate that at the time of the survey, there were over 6000 Code Club leaders and almost 3000 CoderDojo champions around the world. Many of the volunteers are motivated to volunteer by a love of teaching and a desire to pass on their skills.

    A group of young people and educators smiling while engaging with a computer.

    These volunteers are part of a global network, and 80% of volunteers said that belonging to this global community of clubs was motivating for them. Volunteers particularly valued the access to resources and information being part of a global community offered, as well as opportunities to share ideas and problem solve.

    The majority of Code Clubs are mostly or always using our digital making pathways and projects as part of their clubs. Volunteers value the projects’ step-by-step structure and how easy they are to follow.

    “Great structure to allow the kids to self-learn whilst keeping a good amount of creativity for them.” – Code Club volunteer

    We plan to do more to ensure that clubs around the world find these projects and pathways accessible and useful for their sessions with young people.

    What’s next

    The survey has helped us to identify a number of areas where we can support club volunteers even better. Volunteers identified help getting equipment and funding as the main things they needed support with, as well as recruitment of volunteers and young people. We are looking at the best ways we can lend a hand to the clubs network in these areas.

    You can read the survey report to dive deeper into the findings.

    We take impact seriously and are always looking to understand how we can improve and increase the impact we have on the lives of children and young people. To find out more about our approach to impact, you can read about our recently updated theory of change, which supports how we evaluate what we do. 

    Website: LINK

  • Global Impact: Empowering young people in Kenya and South Africa

    Global Impact: Empowering young people in Kenya and South Africa

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    We work with mission-aligned educational organisations all over the world to support young people’s computing education. In 2023 we established four partnerships in Kenya and South Africa with organisations Coder:LevelUp, Blue Roof, Oasis Mathare, and Tech Kidz Africa, which support young people in underserved communities. Our shared goal is to support educators to establish and sustain extracurricular Code Clubs and CoderDojos in schools and community organisations. Here we share insights into the impact the partnerships are having.

    A group of young people outside a school.

    Evaluating the impact of the training 

    In the partnerships we used a ‘train the trainer’ model, which focuses on equipping our partners with the knowledge and skills to train and support educators and learners. This meant that we trained a group of educators from each partner, enabling them to then run their own training sessions for other educators so they can set up coding clubs and run coding sessions. These coding sessions aim to increase young people’s skills and confidence in computing and programming.

    We also conducted an evaluation of the impact of our work in these partnerships. We shared two surveys with educators (one shortly after they completed their initial training, a second for when they were running coding sessions), and another survey for young people to fill in during their coding sessions. In two of the partnerships, we also conducted interviews and focus groups with educators and young people. 

    Although we received lots of valuable feedback, only a low proportion of participants responded to our surveys, so the data may not be representative of the experience of all participating educators. 

    A group of young people coding on a laptop.

    New opportunities to learn to code

    Following our training, our partners themselves trained 332 educators across Kenya and South Africa to work directly in schools and communities running coding sessions. This led to the setup of nearly 250 Code Clubs and CoderDojos and additional coding sessions in schools and communities, reaching more than 11,500 young people.

    As a result, access to coding and programming has increased in areas where this provision would otherwise not be available. One educator told us:

    “We found it extremely beneficial, because a lot of our children come from areas in the community where they barely know how to read and write, let alone know how to use a computer… [It provides] the foundation, creating a fun way of approaching the computer as opposed to it being daunting.”

    Curiosity, excitement and increased confidence

    We found encouraging signs of the impact of this work on young people.

    Nearly 90% of educators reported seeing an increase in young people’s computing skills, with over half of educators reporting that this increase was large. Over three quarters of young people who filled in our survey reported feeling confident in coding and computer programming.

    The young people spoke enthusiastically about what they had learned and the programs they had created. They told us they felt inspired to keep learning, linking their interests to what they wanted to do in coding sessions. Interests included making dolls, games, cartoons, robots, cars, and stories. 

    A young person points at a screen.

    When we spoke with educators and young people, a key theme that emerged was the enthusiasm and curiosity of the young people to learn more. Educators described how motivated they felt by the excitement of the young people. Young people particularly enjoyed finding out the role of programming in the world around them, from understanding traffic lights to knowing more about the games they play on their phones.

    One educator told us:

    “…students who knew nothing about technology are getting empowered.” 

    This confidence is particularly encouraging given that educators reported a low level of computer literacy among young people at the start of the coding sessions. One educator described how coding sessions provided an engaging hook to support teaching basic IT skills, such as mouse skills and computer-related terms, alongside coding. 

    Addressing real-world problems

    One educator gave an example of young people using what they are learning in their coding club to solve real-world problems, saying:

    “It’s life-changing because some of those kids and the youths that you are teaching… they’re using them to automate things in their houses.” 

    Many of these young people live in informal settlements where there are frequent fires, and have started using skills they learned in the coding sessions to automate things in their homes, reducing the risk of fires. For example, they are programming a device that controls fans so that they switch on when the temperature gets too high, and ways to switch appliances such as light bulbs on and off by clapping.

    A young learner coding on a laptop.

    Continuing to improve our support

    From the gathered feedback, we also learned some useful lessons to help improve the quality of our offer and support to our partners. For example, educators faced challenges including lack of devices for young people, and low internet connectivity. As we continue to develop these partnerships, we will work with partners to make use of our unplugged activities that work offline, removing the barriers created by low connectivity.

    We are continuing to develop the training we offer and making sure that educators are able to access our other training and resources. We are also using the feedback they have given us to consider where additional training and support may be needed. Future evaluations will further strengthen our evidence and provide us with the insights we need to continue developing our work and support more educators and young people.

    Our thanks to our partners at Coder:LevelUp, Blue Roof, Oasis Mathare, and Tech Kidz Africa for sharing our mission to enable young people to realise their full potential through the power of computing and digital technologies. As we continue to build partnerships to support Code Clubs and CoderDojos across South Africa and Kenya, it is heartening to hear first-hand accounts of the positive impact this work has on young people.

    If your organisation would like to partner with us to bring computing education to young people you support, please send us a message with the subject ‘Partnerships’.

    Website: LINK

  • Celebrating the community: Arno & Timo

    Celebrating the community: Arno & Timo

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    We love hearing from members of the community and sharing the stories of amazing young people, volunteers, and educators who are using their passion for technology to create positive change in the world around them.

    Arno helping young coders at the CoderDojo Netherlands tenth birthday celebrations
    Arno helping young coders at the CoderDojo Netherlands tenth birthday celebrations

    In our latest story, we’re heading to Alkmaar, the Netherlands, to meet Arno and Timo, CoderDojo enthusiasts who have transitioned from club members to supportive mentors. Their journey at CoderDojo and their drive to give back and support the next generation of coders in their community has been an inspiration to those around them.

    Introducing Arno and Timo

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NglMhw3KwMU?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Arno and Timo have been friends since childhood, and embarked on their CoderDojo journey at the age of 12, eager to explore the world of coding. Under the guidance of mentors like Sanneke, Librarian and Chair of CoderDojo Netherlands, they not only honed their technical skills, but also learned about the value of collaboration, curiosity, and perseverance. As they grew older, they in turn were inspired to support young coders, and wanting to remain part of the CoderDojo community, they decided to become mentors to the next generation of club attendees. 

    Having been helping younger members of the club for years, the transition to official mentors and proud owners of the much-coveted mentor T-shirt was seamless. 

    Timo with Mirthe and Linus, two young CoderDojo members
    Timo with Mirthe and Linus, two young CoderDojo members

    The power of mentorship

    Sanneke reflects on the impact young mentors like Timo and Arno have on the young learners at CoderDojo:

    “Having young mentors who are just slightly older than our youngest… I think it helps them to see what happens when you grow up and how they can help. They can be examples for how to help others.” – Sanneke, Librarian, CoderDojo mentor, and Chair of CoderDojo Netherlands

    Timo echoes this sentiment, highlighting how mentoring provides a fantastic opportunity to help people and make a positive impact in the local community: 

    “I think volunteering is important, because you’re doing something for the community, in a city or village, supporting them in their journey in learning coding.” – Timo

    As they continue their journey, Timo and Arno remain committed to supporting and inspiring the next generation of coders. They also encourage anyone who is thinking of volunteering at a club to give it a go: 

    “If you want to volunteer at the CoderDojo, just go for it. You don’t really need that much experience. […] The kids can learn it, so can you.” – Arno

    The CoderDojo movement in the Netherlands is celebrating a decade of impact, and champions a culture of growth and learning. Arno and Timo’s story serves as an inspiration to us all, shining a light on the power of mentorship and the impact of volunteering in building stronger, more supportive communities. 

    Inspire the next generation of young coders

    Arno and Timo’s story showcases the importance of mentorship for both individuals and communities, and the real impact you can have by donating an hour of your time a week. If you’re interested in becoming a CoderDojo volunteer, head to coderdojo.com to find out how to get started.

    Help us celebrate Arno and Timo and their inspiring journey by sharing their story on X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    Website: LINK

  • Fostering collaboration in the Global Clubs Partner network

    Fostering collaboration in the Global Clubs Partner network

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    We partner with educational organisations around the world to bring coding activities to young people in their regions through Code Club and CoderDojo. Currently involving 52 organisations in 41 countries, this Global Clubs Partner network shares our passion for empowering kids to create with technology.

    Students in a Code Club run by CSEd Botswana.
    Learners in a Code Club run by CSEd Botswana, one of our Global Clubs Partners.

    A key aspect of how we foster the Global Clubs Partner network is to promote connections between partners. It’s one reason we host regular online meetings and regional in-person events, and connect partners one on one to facilitate information sharing. Today, we’re highlighting three stories from partner organisations that have benefited from working with each other.

    Aruba and the Netherlands

    In March 2023, the Foundation hosted the first Clubs Conference for educators and volunteers involved with Code Club and CoderDojo. As this event took place in Cambridge, UK, the majority of attendees were from the UK and Republic or Ireland, but a small number came from further away. Much further away, in some cases.

    A panel discussion on stage at the Clubs Conference.

    Bruce Harms and his colleague Thanya Croes (Full Stack Vision Foundation, Aruba) were attending the Clubs Conference to share their work to increase digital literacy in Aruba through CoderDojo clubs. At a special conference session for international attendees, they connected with Sanneke van der Meer and Marloes van der Meulen (CoderDojo Netherlands), who were also presenting as part of the session.

    Two people smiling at the camera.
    Thanya and Bruce at the Clubs Conference in 2023.

    After the Clubs Conference, the two organisations remained in touch. Later in the year, Bruce and Thanya attended the DojoCon Netherlands 2023 in the Hague. ”It was an amazing day with great workshops and lots of other CoderDojo Champions”, Bruce said. He and Thanya have plans to invite the CoderDojo Netherlands team to Aruba and hope to collaborate on future projects together. 

    Malawi and Tanzania

    Sylvester Mtumbuka (Computers for Enhanced Education, Malawi) and Mrisho Habibu (AMCET Innovation Hub, Tanzania) first connected at our Global Clubs Partner meetup in Malaysia in late 2022. Sylvester said: “We were the only ones from Africa there and we are from neighbouring countries. We happen to have a lot of goals in common, and we started discussing possible opportunities for collaboration.”

    A group of educators.
    The attendees of the Global Clubs Partner meetup in Malaysia in 2022.

    The result is the Tanzania and Malawi (TaMa) Innovation Initiative, which is dedicated to fostering the educational, technological, and entrepreneurial development of young people in Tanzania and Malawi. It aims to empower young people in under-served communities, offering support for sustainable livelihoods and entrepreneurship, and it is already yielding great results.

    Global Clubs Partners in Africa.
    Sylvester and Mrisho signing their partnership agreement.

    As part of their ongoing partnerships with us, Sylvester and Mrisho attended our Global Clubs Partner meetup in South Africa a year later —  the perfect opportunity to sign their partnership agreement.

    Greece and Portugal

    A chance meeting between Homero Cardoso (TAGUSVALLEY, Portugal) and Manos Zeakis (CoderDojo in Greece) at DojoCon Netherlands 2022 in Almere had unexpected consequences. “We discussed a lot of things, including the difficulty in finding venues for our Dojos in Greece”, Manos said. “Then in October 2023, we met at a Global Clubs Partner call and we talked again. With Homero’s help I contacted a Greek company, and they were immediately enthusiastic about helping us. After a few weeks, the Nea Ionia Dojo was live and the first Ninjas had their first session!”

    Someone presenting to a room of people.
    Manos holds a workshop.

    Homero added: “Getting to know Manos was transformative for me as well. Because of that chance encounter in Almere, this year 7th and 8th grade students are participating in Astro Pi Mission Zero for the first time, mostly due to the inspiring example of Manos’s United Dojos project presented at DojoCon.”

    Could your organisation become a Global Clubs Partner?

    To find out more about our Global Clubs Partner network and how your organisation might get involved, visit the CoderDojo or Code Club websites, or contact us directly about a partnership.

    Website: LINK

  • What is the impact of attending a Code Club or CoderDojo?

    What is the impact of attending a Code Club or CoderDojo?

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    We support two networks of coding clubs where young people around the world discover the countless possibilities of creating with digital technologies.

    Three learners working at laptops.
    Young people in a CoderDojo in India.
    • Code Club is a global network of after-school coding clubs for learners aged 9 to 13, where educators and other volunteers help young people learn about coding and digital making
    • CoderDojo is a worldwide network of free, open, and community-based programming clubs for young people aged 7 to 17, where they get the opportunity to learn how to create fantastic new things with technology

    Every year, we send out a survey to volunteers at all the clubs we support. Today we share some highlights from the findings and what we’re planning next.

    An educator teaches students to create with technology.
    A Code Club session in the USA.

    Why do we do an annual survey for clubs?

    The simple answer is: to help make clubs even better for everyone involved! Educators and volunteers are doing a remarkable job in helping young people learn about computing and coding, so we want to know more about them, about how they run their clubs, and what impact the club sessions have for young people.

    A group of children and an adult have fun using Raspberry Pi hardware.
    A CoderDojo session in the UK.

    By knowing more about clubs — how frequently club leaders run them, what resources they use, what they would like more of — we can continue to improve the learning experience for educators, volunteers, and young people involved in our clubs.

    This year in March we sent out our survey to all Code Clubs and CoderDojos around the world, and we heard back from almost 500. As always, the results were very positive, and they also gave us a lot of useful information on how we can continue to improve our support for clubs all over the world.

    Who is involved in clubs?

    Based on the survey, we estimate that at the time, the network of over 4200 Code Clubs and 700 CoderDojos was reaching almost 139,000 young people globally. The global community of clubs has continued to grow since then, with a now even larger network of volunteers supporting ever more young people.

    Three learners laughing at a laptop in a Code Club.
    Participants in a Code Club in the UK.

    According to the survey, the majority of young people attending clubs are aged between 8 and 13, but clubs host young people as young as 6 and as old as 18. It was great to hear about the participation of girls, and we’d love to see this rise even higher: respondents told us that 42% of their Code Club attendees and 30% of their CoderDojo attendees are female.

    Respondents feel that attending club sessions improves young peoples’ interest and engagement in computing and programming, and increases their understanding of the usefulness of computing.

    None of these young people would be able to attend clubs without the great work of teams of educators and volunteers. Based on the survey, we estimate that at the time of the survey, there were over 10,300 Code Club leaders and almost 4000 CoderDojo champions around the world. Many survey respondents said that they were motivated to start volunteering after attending a club themselves.

    Students in a Code Club run by CSEd Botswana.
    A Code Club session in Botswana.

    Community is at the heart of clubs and the clubs networks: over 80% of respondents said that belonging to a global community of clubs helps motivates them to volunteer at their own club.

    What is the impact of clubs?

    Clubs focus on a wide range of topics and programming languages. Scratch is overwhelmingly popular, with over 95% of respondents telling us that they used Scratch in club sessions in the previous year. Micro:bit projects and Python-based programming were also very popular. Club leaders told us that in future they would like to offer more activities around AI applications, as well as around games and mobile apps. 

    A bar chart.

    Club leaders told us that being part of a Code Club or CoderDojo affects young people positively. Respondents feel that attending club sessions improves young peoples’ skills and interest in computing and programming, and increases their understanding of the usefulness of computing. Almost 90% of club leaders also agree that after attending a club, young people are interested in additional experiences of learning about computing and programming.

    Attending also positively affects young people’s wider skills and attitudes, with club leaders stating that young people who attend improve their personal confidence, independence in learning, and creative thinking. 

    Young people who attend improve their personal confidence, independence in learning, and creative thinking.

    We were pleased to find out that most Code Club leaders, who run their sessions in schools, think that their clubs increase the visibility of computing within their school. Many also said that the attendees’ parents and guardians value their clubs as opportunities for their children.

    What’s next?

    We want to keep providing clubs with support to increase their positive impact on young people. Thanks to the survey results, we know to focus our work on providing training opportunities for club volunteers, as well as supporting club leaders to recruit volunteers and advertise their clubs to more young people.

    You can read the survey report to dive deeper into our findings.

    As we take an impact-focused approach to our work, we are currently partnering with Durham University on an evaluation of Code Clubs in UK schools. The evaluation will provide further insights for how we can best support people around the world to run clubs that provide welcoming spaces where all kids can learn to create with digital technologies.

    Website: LINK

  • Creating connections at our 2023 Africa partner meetup

    Creating connections at our 2023 Africa partner meetup

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    We partner with organisations around the world to bring coding activities to young people in their regions through Code Club and CoderDojo. Currently involving 54 organisations in 43 countries, this Global Clubs Partner network shares our passion for educating kids to create with technology.

    Global Clubs Partners in Africa.

    We work to connect our Global Clubs Partners to foster a sense of community and encourage collaboration. As part of this, we run in-person meetups to allow our partners to get to know each other better, and to help us understand how we can best support them, and what we can learn from them. Previously held in Penang, Malaysia, and Almere, the Netherlands, our latest meetup took place in Cape Town, South Africa.

    Connecting through stories and experiences

    Although we’ve seen some surprising points of commonality among all Global Clubs Partners, we also know that our partners find it helpful to connect with organisations based in their region. For the Cape Town meetup, we invited partner organisations from across Africa, hoping to bring together as many people as possible.

    Global Clubs Partners in Africa.

    Our aim was to give our partners the opportunity to share their work and identify and discuss common questions and issues. We also wanted to mitigate some of the challenges of working internationally, such as time constraints, time zones, and internet connectivity, so that everyone could focus on connecting with each other.

    Global Clubs Partners in Africa.

    The meetup agenda included time for each Global Clubs Partner organisation to present their work and future plans, as well as time for discussions on growing and sustaining club volunteer and mentor communities, strategy for 2024, and sharing resources. 

    “If the only thing rural communities have is problems, why are people still living there? … Rural communities have gifts, have skills, they have history that is wasting away right now; nobody is capturing it. They have wisdom and assets.”

    Damilola Fasoranti from Prikkle Academy, Nigeria, talking about not making assumptions about rural communities and how this shapes the work his organisation does

    A group dinner after the meetup enabled more informal networking. The next day, everyone had the chance to get inspired at Coolest Projects South Africa, a regional Coolest Projects event for young tech creators organised by partner organisation Coder LevelUp.

    Global Clubs Partners in Africa.

    The meetup gave the Global Clubs Partners time to talk to each other about their work and experiences and understand one another better. It was also very beneficial for our team: we learned more about how we can best support partners to work in their communities, whether through new resources, information about funding applications, or best practice in overcoming challenges.

    Building bridges

    After attending a previous meetup, two of our partner organisations had decided to create an agreement for future partnership. We were delighted to learn about this collaboration, and to witness the signing of the agreement at this meetup.

    Global Clubs Partners in Africa.

    By continuing to bring our partner network together, we hope to foster more cross-organisation partnerships like this around the world that will strengthen the global movement for democratising computing education.

    Could your organisation become a Global Clubs Partner?

    You can find out how your organisation could join our Global Clubs Partner network on the CoderDojo and Code Club websites, or contact us directly with your questions or ideas about a partnership.

    Website: LINK

  • Welcome, new partners: Growing the global impact of Code Club and CoderDojo

    Welcome, new partners: Growing the global impact of Code Club and CoderDojo

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Increasing access to computing education is a global challenge, and at the Raspberry Pi Foundation we take a global approach in addressing it. One way we do this is to partner with organisations around the world and support them to introduce Code Clubs and CoderDojos in their local or national communities.

    Students in a Code Club run by CSEd Botswana.

    Code Club and CoderDojo are the two global networks of free, volunteer-led coding clubs for young people that we support. They are a great fit for a lot of organisations that share our vision and values and work with young people from backgrounds that are currently under-represented in computing. Right now, our Global Clubs Partner network involves more than 50 organisations in over 40 different countries around the world. Seven new partners have joined us since August.

    New members in the Global Clubs Partner network

    We send a warm welcome to our seven new partners. Here is some of what they are working on:

    • CSEd Botswana is training 25 teachers in rural areas to run Code Clubs in their schools
    • Hacedores in Mexico is working towards establishing CoderDojos in their 80 makerspaces, and Code Clubs in the local schools of their community members.
    • Code Club Luxembourg is already running several clubs and also hosts a number of workshops each year to encourage children to carry on their coding journey by joining a Code Club or CoderDojo.
    • Light Into Europe works with the Deaf community in Romania. They plan to open up coding to children with hearing impairments through accessible Code Clubs, supported by interpreters and adults who are also deaf.
    • KIT Hub in Burundi have plans to establish CoderDojos to support children from underserved areas, including a sizable community of Congolese young people living in refugee camps in Burundi.
    • Orientations Training Centre in Sudan will be setting up clubs in Khartoum and Darfur, and they are planning a special passion for supporting young people to submit entries to the Coolest Projects online showcase in 2024.
    • Savanna Developer Network will establish CoderDojos in northern Ghana to narrow the income and infrastructure gap between the north and the south by ensuring that children in the north aren’t left behind in computing education. 

    We are really excited that these organisations have chosen to join the Global Clubs Partner network.

    Benefits of partnering with us

    When they join our Global Clubs Partner network, organisations work with us to grow the Code Club and CoderDojo communities around the world. Our Global Clubs Partners share our mission to enable young people to realise their full potential through the power of computing and digital technologies, and they commit to working towards this mission with our support.

    A CoderDojo venue in Burundi, run by KIT Hub.
    A CoderDojo venue in
    A CoderDojo venue in Burundi, run by KIT Hub.
    Burundi, run by KIT Hub

    For many partners and the educators and volunteers they work with, running Code Clubs and CoderDojos is an opportunity to learn to code alongside the young people. We give partners tailored support for their work through our free, high-quality resources, including online training, community events, and easy-to-follow coding projects.

    Our new partners are as glad as we are to have joined our network.

    Abdelmoneim Mohammed of Orientations Training Centre in Sudan is excited by the impact Code Club will have on his young coders, telling us:  

    I expect this can help to make our citizens a global citizen, [by] learning from a well-established and developed educational system.

    For Ethel Tshukudu of CSEd Botswana, it is the community focus and available support network that is important. She tells us:

    The strong sense of community and the availability of mentorship opportunities are particularly appealing, as they ensure that CSEdBotswana can consistently access the support needed to enhance our coding clubs and create a more significant impact. 

    Our partner from KIT Hub in Burundi, Ferdinand Alimasi, values how establishing clubs promotes collective learning and engagement in the community. He says:

    Education and preparation of [the] future workforce require collective work and responsibilities, so these clubs will bring the change in communities by offering opportunities to learn for kids and teens, as well as opportunities for everyone to be involved in building a better future for all.

    What we learn from our partnerships

    Our partners work in lots of different circumstances all around the world. A key learning for us is that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to computing education. We support our partners to adapt and deliver our resources in a way that they know will best engage their learners. This highlights how important it is to work in a culturally sensitive way, and to prioritise providing opportunities for learners to use digital technology to make things that matter to them. That looks very different depending on where you are in the world, and who you are working with.

    A child at a laptop in a classroom in rural Kenya.

    Through working with our partners, we also see just how much world events can impact the already unequal access young people have to learning new digital skills. Climate crisis events such as floods and wildfires, and political crises such as war, conflict, and changes in government have affected many of our global partners this year. The resulting closures of schools and other educational venues, electricity blackouts, and funding challenges cause further educational disadvantage to the children in the affected areas. Our partners play a key role in providing additional educational opportunities for young people when it is safe to do so.

    Three teenage girls at a laptop
    Young tech creators at a Code Club in Brazil.

    The experiences and perspectives we’ve gained through our partnerships with global organisations are extremely important to us and our mission. They help to inform the work we do to make computing education truly accessible for all learners and educators around the globe.  

    Could your organisation become a Global Clubs Partner?

    You can find out more about how your organisation could join our Global Clubs Partner network on the CoderDojo and Code Club websites, or contact us directly with your questions or ideas about a partnership.

    Website: LINK

  • Bringing computing education research to a new global audience

    Bringing computing education research to a new global audience

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    A network of more than 40 partner organisations in over 30 countries works with us to grow and sustain the worldwide Code Club and CoderDojo networks of coding clubs for young people. These organisations, our Global Clubs Partners, share our mission to enable young people to realise their potential through the power of computing and digital technologies. We support them in various ways, and recently we invited them to two calls with our researchers to discuss new research findings about computing education in primary schools.

    Three teenage girls at a laptop
    Three girls in a Code Club session in Brazil.

    Supporting Global Clubs Partners with research insights

    Global Clubs Partners work to train educators and volunteers, provide access to computing equipment, run clubs and events for young people at a local or national level, and much more. Our aim is to provide support that helps the Global Clubs Partners in their work, including tailored resources and regular group calls where we discuss topics such as volunteer engagement and fundraising.

    Educator training in a classroom in Benin.
    Educator training in Benin, run by Global Clubs Partner organisation Impala Bridge.

    Recently, we were excited to be able to highlight research from our newest seminar series to the network. This ongoing seminar series focuses on teaching and learning in primary (K-5) computing education. Many of the Global Clubs Partners work with schools or local education bodies — some partner representatives even come from a teaching background themselves. That’s why we hoped they would be able to use insights from the seminars in their work, whether with learners and educators directly, or to grow their network of Code Clubs or CoderDojos; we know this is easier for them when they can provide evidence to show why these programmes are so beneficial for young people.

    Learning from Global Clubs Partners for our future research

    We were also very interested to hear the Global Clubs Partners’ perspectives, as they work in a wide variety of contexts around the world. For example, would the research resonate the same way with an organisation based in Kenya as one based in Nepal? This kind of insight is useful for making decisions about our research work in future.

    Each of the two calls featured a speaker from the research seminar series summarising their work and inviting attendees to share their own thoughts. We had some fascinating conversations; with partner representatives from seven countries across four continents, the discussions were a great showcase of the different experiences in our partner network. Dr Bobby Whyte, one of the speakers, noted: “Being able to share and discuss work within a global audience has been a really valuable experience.”

    Young people at a Code Club session in a classroom.
    A Code Club session in a classroom in Portugal.

    We found the opportunity to connect our partner network with work from other areas of the Foundation really beneficial, and the Global Clubs Partners did too: their feedback from the calls was uniformly positive. Dr Jane Waite, our Senior Research Scientist, commented that “it’s really important for us to share research with people in different contexts and so exciting to hear when findings resonate and can be used in practice.”

    You can find out more about our Global Clubs Partner network on the CoderDojo and Code Club websites, or contact us directly about partnerships.

    Website: LINK

  • Clubs Conference 2023: Ideas and tools for CoderDojos and Code Clubs

    Clubs Conference 2023: Ideas and tools for CoderDojos and Code Clubs

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    On 24 and 25 March, more than 140 members of the Code Club and CoderDojo communities joined us in Cambridge for our first-ever Clubs Conference.

    Participants at the Clubs Conference.
    Participants at the Clubs Conference.

    At the Clubs Conference, volunteers and educators came together to celebrate their achievements and explore new ways to support young people to create with technology. The event included community display tables, interactive workshops, discussions, poster sessions, and talks.

    For everyone who couldn’t join us in person, we recorded all of the talks that community members gave on the main stage. Here’s what you can learn from the speakers.

    Running your club

    • Jane Waite from our team offered a taste of the research we do and how you can get insights from it to help you run your own coding club. Watch Jane’s talk to learn about the research that informs our projects for your club.
    • Rhodri Smith, who runs a Code Club, shared how you can use assistive technologies to open your club experience to more young people. Watch Rhodri’s talk for some fantastic tips on how assistive technology can make Code Club accessible to children of all ages and abilities.
    Participants at the Clubs Conference.
    • Dave Morley, who volunteers at the CoderDojo at Royal Museums Greenwich, presented his way of using Scratch projects to keep engaging Dojo participants. Watch Dave’s talk for tips on how to create your own coding projects for young people.
    • Tim Duffey, who is part of the West Sound CoderDojo, shared how his Dojo ran successful online sessions during the coronavirus pandemic. Watch Tim’s talk for great advice on how to run successful coding clubs for young people online.
    • Steph Burton from our team presented new resources we’re working on to help clubs recruit and train volunteers. Watch Steph’s talk for tips on how to recruit new volunteers for your coding club.

    Engaging young people in your club

    • Sophie Hudson, who runs a Code Club in rural Yorkshire, told us how her school’s Code Club turned taking part in Astro Pi Mission Zero into a cross-curricular activity, and how she partnered older learners with younger ones for peer mentoring that engaged new learners in coding. Watch Sophie’s talk to learn how you can get your school involved in Astro Pi, especially if you don’t have much adult support available.
    Participants at the Clubs Conference.
    We brought a replica of the Astro Pi computers to the Clubs Conference.
    • Helen Gardner from our team shared how you can motivate and inspire your coders by supporting them to share their projects in the Coolest Projects showcase — even their very first Scratch animation. Watch Helen’s talk if you’re looking for something new for your club.

    The benefits of Code Club and CoderDojo for your community

    • Fiona Lindsay, who leads a Code Club, presented her insights into the skills beyond coding that young people learn at Code Club, and she shared some wonderful videos of her coders talking about their experience. Watch Fiona’s talk to hear young girls talk about how to get more girls into coding, and for evidence of why every school should have a Code Club.
    Hillside School's cake to celebrate ten years of Code Club.
    Last year, Fiona’s Code Club held a special event to celebrate the tenth birthday of Code Club.
    • Bruce Harms, who is involved in AruCoderDojo, shared how he and his team are making the CoderDojo model part of their wider work to bring digital skills and infrastructure to Aruba. Watch Bruce’s talk to learn how his team has tailored their coding clubs for their local community.

    What is volunteering for CoderDojo and Code Club like?

    • Marcus Davage, who volunteers at a Code Club, shared his journey as a volunteer translator of our resources, and how he engaged colleagues at his workplace in also supporting translations to make coding skills available to more young people across the world. Watch Marcus’s talk if you speak more than one language.
    • To end the day, we hosted a group of community members onstage to have a chat about their journeys with CoderDojo and Code Club, what they’ve learned, and how they see the future of their clubs. Watch the panel conversation if you want inspiration and advice for getting involved in helping kids create with tech.
    A panel discussion on stage at the Clubs Conference.

    Thank you to everyone who gave talks, ran workshops, presented posters, and had conversations to share their questions and insights. It was wonderful to meet all of you, and we came away from the Clubs Conference feeling super inspired by the amazing work Code Club and CoderDojo volunteers all over the world do to help young people learn to create with digital technologies.

    We learned so much from listening to you, and we will take the lessons into our work to support you and your clubs in the best way we can.

    Website: LINK

  • Celebrating the community: Selin

    Celebrating the community: Selin

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    We are so excited to share another story from the community! Our series of community stories takes you across the world to hear from young people and educators who are engaging with creating digital technologies in their own personal ways.

    Selin and a robot she has built.
    Selin and her robot guide dog IC4U.

    In this story we introduce you to Selin, a digital maker from Istanbul, Turkey, who is passionate about robotics and AI. Watch the video to hear how Selin’s childhood pet inspired her to build tech projects that aim to help others live well.

    Meet Selin

    Celebrate Selin and inspire other young people by sharing her story on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    Selin (16) started her digital making journey because she wanted to solve a problem: after her family’s beloved dog Korsan passed away, she wanted to bring him back to life. Selin thought a robotic dog could be the answer, and so she started to design her project on paper. When she found out that learning to code would mean she could actually make a robotic dog, Selin began to teach herself about coding and digital making.

    Thanks to her local CoderDojo, which is part of the worldwide CoderDojo network of free, community-based, volunteer-led programming clubs where young people explore digital technology, Selin’s interest in creating tech projects grew and grew. Selin has since built seven robots, and her enthusiasm for building things with digital technology shows no sign of stopping.

    Selin is on one knee, next to her robot.
    Selin and her robot guide dog IC4U.

    One of Selin’s big motivations to explore digital making was having an event to work towards. At her Dojo, Selin found out about Coolest Projects, the global technology showcase for young people. She then set herself the task of making a robot to present at the Coolest Projects event in 2018.

    When thinking about ideas for what to make for Coolest Projects, Selin remembered how it felt to lose her dog. She wondered what it must be like when a blind person’s guide dog passes away, as that person loses their friend as well as their support. So Selin decided to make a robotic guide dog called IC4U. She contacted several guide dog organisations to find out how guide dogs are trained and what they need to be able to do so she could replicate their behaviour in her robot. The robot is voice-controlled so that people with impaired sight can interact with it easily.

    Selin and the judges at Coolest Projects.
    Selin at Coolest Projects International in 2018.

    Selin and her parents travelled to Coolest Projects International in Dublin, thanks to support from the CoderDojo Foundation. Accompanying them was Selin’s project IC4U, which became a judges’ favourite in the Hardware category. Selin enjoyed participating in Coolest Projects so much that she started designing her project for next year’s event straight away:

    “When I returned back I immediately started working for next year’s Coolest Projects.”

    Selin

    Many of Selin’s tech projects share a theme: to help make the world a better place. For example, another robot made by Selin is the BB4All — a school assistant robot to tackle bullying. And last year, while she attended the Stanford AI4ALL summer camp, Selin worked with a group of young people to design a tech project to increase the speed and accuracy of lung cancer diagnoses.

    Through her digital making projects, Selin wants to show how people can use robotics and AI technology to support people and their well-being. In 2021, Selin’s commitment to making these projects was recognised when she was awarded the Aspiring Teen Award by Women in Tech.

    Selin stands next to an photograph of herself. In the photograph she has a dog on one side and a robot dog on the other.

    Listening to Selin, it is inspiring to hear how a person can use technology to express themselves as well as create projects that have the potential to do so much good. Selin acknowledges that sometimes the first steps can be the hardest, especially for girls  interested in tech: “I know it’s hard to start at first, but interests are gender-free.”

    “Be curious and courageous, and never let setbacks stop you so you can actually accomplish your dream.”    

    Selin

    We have loved seeing all the wonderful projects that Selin has made in the years since she first designed a robot dog on paper. And it’s especially cool to see that Selin has also continued to work on her robot IC4U, the original project that led her to coding, Coolest Projects, and more. Selin’s robot has developed with its maker, and we can’t wait to see what they both go on to do next.

    Help us celebrate Selin and inspire other young people to discover coding and digital making as a passion, by sharing her story on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    Website: LINK

  • How do I start my child coding?

    How do I start my child coding?

    Reading Time: 6 minutes

    You may have heard a lot about coding and how important it is for children to start learning about coding as early as possible. Computers have become part of our lives, and we’re not just talking about the laptop or desktop computer you might have in your home or on your desk at work. Your phone, your microwave, and your car are all controlled by computers, and those computers need instructions to tell them what to do. Coding, or computer programming, involves writing those instructions.

    A boy types code at a CoderDojo coding club.

    If children discover a love for coding, they will have an avenue to make the things they want to make; to write programs and build projects that they find useful, fun, or interesting. So how do you give your child the opportunity to learn about coding? We’ve listed some free resources and suggested activities below.

    Scratch Junior 

    If you have a young child under about 7 years of age, then a great place to begin is with ScratchJr. This is an app available on Android and iOS phones and tablets, that lets children learn the basics of programming, without having to worry about making mistakes.

    ScratchJr programming interface.

    Code Club World

    The Raspberry Pi Foundation has developed a series of activities for young learners, on their journey to developing their computing skills. Code Club World provides a platform for children to play with code to design their own avatar, make it dance, and play music. Plus they can share their creations with other learners. 

    “You could have a go too and discover Scratch together. The platform is designed for complete beginners and it is great fun to play with.”

    Carol Thornhill, Engineering Science MA, Mathematics teacher

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUNucqFmd28?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Scratch

    For 7- to 11-year-old children, Scratch is a good way to begin their journey in coding, or to progress from ScratchJr. Like ScratchJr, Scratch is a block-based language, allowing children to assemble code to produce games, animations, stories, or even use some of the add-ons to interact with electronic devices and explore physical computing.

    A girl with her Scratch project
    A girl with a Scratch project she has coded.

    The Raspberry Pi Foundation has hundreds of Scratch projects that your child can try out, but the best place to begin is with our Introduction to Scratch path, which will provide your child with the basic skills they need, and then encourage them to build projects that are relevant to them, culminating in their creation of their own interactive ebook.

    Your child may never tire of Scratch, and that is absolutely fine — it is a fully functioning programming language that is surprisingly powerful, when you learn to understand everything it can do. Another advantage of Scratch is that it provides easy access to graphics, sounds, and interactivity that can be trickier to achieve in other programming languages.

    Python 

    If you’re looking for more traditional programming languages for your child to progress on to, especially when they reach 12 years of age or beyond, then we like to direct our young learners to the Python programming language and to the languages that the World Wide Web is built on, particularly HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

    Animation coded in Python of an archery target disk.
    An animation coded using Python.

    Our Python resources cover the basics of using the language, and then progress from there. Python is one of the most widely used languages when it comes to the fields of artificial intelligence and data science, and we have resources to support your child in learning about these fascinating aspects of technology. Our projects can even introduce your child to the world of electronics and physical computing with activities that use the inexpensive Raspberry Pi Pico, and a handful of electronic components, enabling your kids to create a wide variety of art installations and useful gadgets.

    “Trying Python doesn’t mean you can’t go back to Scratch or switch between Scratch and Python for different purposes. I still use Scratch for some projects myself!”

    Tracy Gardner, Computer Science PhD, former IBM Software Architect and currently a project writer at the Raspberry Pi Foundation

    A young person codes at a Raspberry Pi computer.
    Python is a great text-based programming language for young people to learn.

    Coding projects

    On our coding tutorials website we have many different projects to help your child learn coding and digital making. These range from beginner resources like the Introduction to Scratch path to more advanced activities such as the Introduction to Unity path, where children can learn how to make 3D worlds and games. 

    “Our new project paths can be tackled by young creators on their own, without adult intervention. Paths are structured so that they build skills and confidence in the early stages, and then provide more open-ended tasks and inspirational ideas that creators can adapt or work from.”

    Rik Cross, BSc (Hons), PGCE, former teacher and Director of Informal Learning at the Raspberry Pi Foundation

    Web development 

    The Web is integral to many of our lives, and we believe that it is important for children to have an understanding of the technology that drives it. That is why we have an Introduction to the Web path that allows children to develop their own web pages, focusing on the kinds of webpages that they want to build, be that sending a greeting card, telling a story, or creating a showcase of their projects.

    A girl has fun learning to code at home on a tablet sitting on a sofa.
    It’s empowering for children to learn to how the websites they visit are created with code.

    Coding clubs 

    Coding clubs are a great place for children to have fun and become more confident with coding, where they can learn through making and share their creations with each other. The Raspberry Pi Foundation operates the world’s largest network of coding clubs — CoderDojo and Code Club. 

    “I have a new group of creators at my Code Club every year and my favourite part is when they realise they really can let their imagination run wild. You want to make an animation where a talking pineapple chases a snowman — absolutely. You want to make a piece of scalable art out of 1000 pixelated cartoon musical instruments — go right ahead. If you can code it, you can make it ”

    Liz Smart, Code Club and CoderDojo mentor, former Solutions Architect and project writer for the Raspberry Pi Foundation

    Three teenage girls at a laptop.
    At Code Club and CoderDojo, many young people enjoy teaming up to code projects together.

    Coding challenges 

    Once your child has learnt some of the basics, they may enjoy entering a coding challenge! The European Astro Pi Challenge programme allows young people to write code and actually have it run on the International Space Station, and Coolest Projects gives children a chance to showcase their projects from across the globe.

    A Coolest Projects participant
    A girl with her coded creation at an in-person Coolest Projects showcase.

    Free resources 

    No matter what technology your child wants to engage with, there is a wealth of free resources and materials available from organisations such as the Raspberry Pi Foundation and Scratch Foundation, that prepare young people for 21st century life. Whether they want to become professional software engineers, tinker with some electronics, or just have a play around … encourage them to explore some coding projects, and see what they can learn, make, and do!

    Author: Marc Scott, BSc (Hons) is a former Science, Computer Science, and Engineering teacher and the Content Lead for Projects at the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

    Website: LINK

  • Celebrating the community: Jay

    Celebrating the community: Jay

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    We love being able to share how young people across the world are getting creative with technology and solving problems that matter to them. That’s why we put together a series of films that celebrate the personal stories of young tech creators.

    Jay at an outside basketball court.

    For our next story, we met up with young digital maker Jay in Preston, UK, who wants to share what coding and robotics mean to him.

    Watch Jay’s video to see how Jay created a homemade ventilator, Oxy-Pi, and how he’s making sure people in his local community also have the opportunity to create with technology. 

    Meet Jay

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKseSCYwoc4?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Help us celebrate Jay by sharing his story on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook!

    Jay (11) wants everyone to learn about programming. At a young age, Jay started to experiment with code to make his own games. He attended free coding groups in his area, such as CoderDojo, and was introduced to the block-based programming language Scratch. Soon Jay was combining his interests in programming with robotics to make his own inventions. 

    “My mission is to spread the word of computing and programming, because not many people know about these subjects.”

    Jay

    Jay teaches a group of schoolchildren how to use the programming language Scratch on a computer.
    “The class teachers learn a lot from him, not just the children.” Mr Aspinall, Head teacher at Queen’s Drive Primary School

    When he found out about Coolest Projects, our global tech showcase where young creators share their projects, Jay decided to channel his creativity into making something to exhibit there. He brought along a security alarm he had built, and he left Coolest Projects having made lots of new friends who were young tech creators just like himself.   

    “With robotics and coding, what Jay has learned is to think outside of the box and without any limits.”

    Biren, Jay’s dad

    While Jay has made many different tech projects, all of his ideas involve materials that are easily accessible and low-cost. Lots of his creations start out made with cardboard, and repurposed household items often feature in his final projects. Jay says, “I don’t want to spend much money, because it’s not necessary when you actually have an alternative that works perfectly fine.” 

    Jay holds a poster that has a plan of his Oxy-Pi project.
    Jay uses his digital making skills to help others.

    One of Jay’s recent projects, which he made from repurposed materials, is called Oxy-Pi. It’s a portable ventilator for use at home. Jay was inspired to make Oxy-Pi during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this project is especially important to him as his dad was hospitalised during this time. With his digital making approach, Jay is an example to everyone that you can use anything you have to hand to create something important to you.

    Young coder Jay at home with his family.
    Jay and his family in Preston, UK.

    Digital making has helped Jay express himself creatively, test his skills, and make new friends, which is why he is motivated to help others learn about digital making too. In his local community, Jay has been teaching children, teenagers, and adults about coding and robotics for the last few years. He says that he and the people around him get a lot from the experience.  

    “When I go out and teach, I love it so much because it’s really accessible. It helps me build my confidence, it helps them to discover, to learn, to create. And it’s really fun.”

    Jay

    Using tech to create things and solve problems, and helping others to learn to do the same, is incredibly important to Jay, and he wants it to be important to you too!

    Help us celebrate Jay and inspire other young people to discover coding and digital making as a passion, by sharing his story on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.      

    Website: LINK

  • Celebrating the community: Cian

    Celebrating the community: Cian

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Today we bring you the sixth film in our series of inspirational community stories. It’s wonderful to share how people all across the world are getting creative with tech and solving problems that matter to them.

    Cian Martin Bohan.

    Our next community story comes from Drogheda, Ireland, where a group of programmers set up one of the country’s very, very first CoderDojo coding clubs for young people. One of that Dojo’s attendees was Cian Martin Bohan, whose story we’re sharing today.

    “I can’t create anything I want in real life, but I can create anything I want on a computer.”

    Cian Martin Bohan

    Watch Cian’s video to find out how this keen programmer went from his first experience with coding at his local CoderDojo as an 11-year-old, to landing a Software Engineering apprenticeship at Google.

    Cian, a boy at his first CoderDojo coding club session.
    Cian at his very first CoderDojo session

    Meet Cian

    Cian (20) vividly remembers the first time he heard about CoderDojo as a shy 11-year-old: he initially told his dad he felt too nervous to attend. What Cian couldn’t have known back then was that attending CoderDojo would set him on an exciting journey of creative digital making and finding life-long friends.

    Help us celebrate Cian by liking and sharing his story on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    Right from the beginning, the CoderDojo gave Cian space to make friends and develop his coding skills and his curiosity about creating things with technology. He started to attend the Dojo regularly, and before long he had created his own website about the planets in our solar system with basic CSS and HTML.  

    “I made a website that talked about the planets, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. In fact, I actually still have that website.”

    Cian Martin Bohan

    In over 6 years of being part of his CoderDojo community, Cian was able to share his passion for programming with others and grow his confidence.

    • Cian and his friend at Coolest Projects 2015.
    • A 2021 photo of Cian and the friend he teamed up with for Coolest Projects 2015.

    From meeting like-minded peers and developing apps and websites, to serving as a youth member on the Digital Youth Council, Cian embraced the many experiences that CoderDojo opened up for him. They were all of great benefit when he decided to apply for an apprenticeship at Google.

    As someone who didn’t follow the university route of education, Cian’s time at CoderDojo and the mentors he met there had a profound impact on his life and his career path. His CoderDojo mentors always encouraged Cian to learn new skills and follow his interests, and in this way they not only helped him reach his current position at Google, but also instilled in him a steady desire to always keep learning.

    The future is limitless for Cian, and we cannot wait to hear what he does next.

    Help us celebrate Cian, and inspire other young people to discover coding and digital making as a passion, by liking and sharing his story on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    Website: LINK

  • The Raspberry Pi Build HAT and LEGO® components at our CoderDojo

    The Raspberry Pi Build HAT and LEGO® components at our CoderDojo

    Reading Time: 6 minutes

    As so many CoderDojos around the world, our office-based CoderDojo hadn’t been able to bring learners together in person since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. So we decided that our first time back in the Raspberry Pi Foundation headquarters should be something special. Having literally just launched the new Raspberry Pi Build HAT for programming LEGO® projects with Raspberry Pi computers, we wanted to celebrate our Dojo’s triumphant return to in-person session by offering a ‘LEGO bricks and Raspberry Pi’ activity!

    A robot buggy built by young people with LEGO bricks and the Raspberry Pi Build HAT.

    Back in person, with new ways to create with code

    The Raspberry Pi Build HAT allows learners to build and program projects with Raspberry Pi computers and LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors from the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Portfolio.

    A close-up of the Raspberry Pi Build HAT on a Maker Plate and connected to electronic components.

    What better way could there be to get the more experienced coders among our Dojo’s young people (Ninjas) properly excited to be back? We knew they were fond of building things with LEGO bricks, as so many young people are, so we were sure they would have great fun with this activity!

    Two girls work together on a coding project.

    For our beginners, we set up Raspberry Pi workstations and got them coding the projects on the Home island on our brand-new Code Club World platform, which they absolutely loved, so their jealousy was mitigated somewhat. 

    Being able to rely on your learners’ existing skills in making the physical build leaves you a lot more time to support them with what they’re actually here to learn: the coding and digital making skills.

    We wanted to keep our first Dojo back small, so for the ‘LEGO bricks and Raspberry Pi’ activity, we set up just four workstations, each with a Raspberry Pi 4, with 4GB RAM and a Raspberry Pi Build HAT on top, and a LEGO Education SPIKE Prime set. We put eight participants into teams of two, and made sure that all of them brought a little experience with text-based coding, because we wanted them to be able to focus on making projects in their own style, rather than first learning the basics of coding in Python. Then we offered our Ninjas the choice of the first two projects in the Introduction to the Raspberry Pi Build HAT and LEGO path: make Pong game controllers, or make a remote-controlled robot buggy. As I had predicted, all the teams chose to make a robot buggy!

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    Teamwork and design

    The teams of Ninjas were immediately off and making — in fact, they couldn’t wait to get the lids off the boxes of brightly coloured bricks and beams!

    Two young people work as a team at a CoderDojo coding club.

    Our project instructions focus primarily on supporting learners through coding and testing the mechanics of their creations, leaving the design and build totally up to them. This was evidenced by the variety of buggy designs we saw at the project showcase at the end of the two-hour Dojo session!

    One of the amazing things Raspberry Pi makes possible when you use it with the Raspberry Pi Build HAT and SPIKE™ Prime set: it’s simple to make the Raspberry Pi at the heart of the creation talk to a mobile device via Bluetooth, and off you go controlling what you’ve created via a phone or tablet.

    While beginner-friendly, the projects in the Introduction path involve a mix of coding, testing, designing, and building. So it required focus and solid teamwork for the Ninjas to finish their buggies in time for the project showcase. And this is where building with LEGO pieces was really helpful.

    Coding front and centre, thanks to the Raspberry Pi Build HAT

    Having LEGO bricks and the Build HAT available to create their Raspberry Pi–powered robot buggies made it easy for our Ninjas to focus on writing the code to get their buggies to work. They weren’t relying on crafting skills or duct tape and glue guns to make a chassis in the relatively short time they had, and the coding could be front and centre for them.

    The most exciting part for the Ninjas was that they were building remote-controlled robot buggies. This is one of the amazing things Raspberry Pi makes possible when you use it with the Build HAT and SPIKE™ Prime set: it’s simple to make the Raspberry Pi at the heart of the creation talk to a mobile device via Bluetooth, and off you go controlling what you’ve created via a phone or tablet.

    The LEGO Technic motors that are part of the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime set are of really high quality, and they’re super easy to program with the Build HAT and its Python library! You can change the motors’ speed by setting a single parameter in your code. You can also easily write code to set or read the motors’ exact angle (their absolute position). That allows you to finely control the motors’ movements, or to use them as sensors.

    Some of our teams, inspired by everything the SPIKE Prime set has to offer, tried out programming the set’s sensors, to switch their robot buggy on or help it avoid obstacles. Because we only had about 90 minutes of digital making, not all teams managed to finish adding the extra features they wanted — but next time for sure!

    A young person programs a robot buggy built with LEGO bricks and the Raspberry Pi Build HAT.

    With a little more time (or another Dojo session), it would have been possible for the Ninjas to make some very advanced remote-controlled buggies indeed, complete with headlights, brake lights, sensors, and sound.

    Learning with LEGO® elements and Raspberry Pi computers

    If you have access to LEGO Education SPIKE Prime sets for your learners, then the Raspberry Pi Build HAT is a great addition that allows them to build complex robotics projects with very simple code — but I think that’s not its main benefit.

    A robot buggy built by young people with LEGO bricks and the Raspberry Pi Build HAT.

    Because the Build HAT allows your learners to work with LEGO elements, you know that many of them already understand one aspect of the creation process: they’ve got experience of using LEGO bricks to solve a problem. In a coding or STEM club session, or in a classroom lesson, you can only give your learners limited amount of time to complete a project, or get their project prototype to a stable point. So being able to rely on your learners’ existing skills in making the physical build leaves you a lot more time to support them with what they’re actually here to learn: the coding and digital making skills.

    You and your young people next!

    The projects using the Raspberry Pi Build HATs were such a hit, we’ll be getting them and the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime sets out at every Dojo session from now on! We’re excited to see what young people around the world will be creating thanks to our new collaboration with LEGO Education.

    Have you used the Raspberry Pi Build HAT with your learners or young people at home yet? Share their stories and creations in the comments here, or on social media using #BuildHAT.

    Website: LINK

  • Celebrate CoderDojo’s 10th birthday with us!

    Celebrate CoderDojo’s 10th birthday with us!

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    We are inviting you all to a very special event this week: the CoderDojo team is hosting a 10th birthday livestream to celebrate the CoderDojo community and all that they have achieved over the last ten years.

    Everyone is welcome, so mark your diary and make sure you and your favourite young coders join us for all the fun at 18:00 BST this Thursday, 28 October! 

    Together we will hear stories from young people and volunteers around the world, and from James Whelton and Bill Liao, the co-founders of CoderDojo.

    Ten years of community spirit

    In July 2011, James Whelton and Bill Liao held the first-ever CoderDojo session in Cork, Ireland. They created a space for young people to learn how to create a website, design a game, or write their first program. The session was also a chance for volunteers to share their experience and time with a younger generation and their peers. It was here that the CoderDojo grassroots community came into existence, built on the values of ‘being cool’: creativity, collaboration, openness, and fun.

    A Dojo session in Ireland.

    These values continue to inspire young people (Ninjas) and volunteers around the world to be part of their local Dojos. In 2017, the CoderDojo Foundation, which was founded to support the CoderDojo movement, and the Raspberry Pi Foundation joined forces to better support the community to bring opportunities to more young people worldwide.

    A man helps four young people to code projects at laptops in a CoderDojo session.
    A Dojo session in Uganda.

    The tenth year of the movement is an especially important time for us to celebrate the volunteers who have put so much into CoderDojo. As well as the livestream celebration on 28 October, the CoderDojo team has put together free digital assets to get volunteers and Ninjas in the birthday spirit, and a special birthday giveaway for Ninjas who are coding projects to mark this momentous anniversary.

    Three young people learn coding at laptops supported by a volunteer at a CoderDojo session.
    A CoderDojo session in India.

    Ten things we love about you

    In celebration of the CoderDojo movement’s 10th birthday, here’s a list of some of our favourite things about the CoderDojo community.  

    1. You are always having so much fun!

    Whether you’re working together in person or online, you are always having a blast!

    • A tweet about CoderDojo.

    2. You are resilient and committed to your club 

    The pandemic has been an extremely difficult time for Dojos. It has also been a time of adaptation. We have been so impressed by how community members have switched their ways of running with positivity and commitment to 6. do what is best for their clubs.

    A tweet about CoderDojo.

    3. You support each other

    Every day, Dojo volunteers support each other locally and globally to sustain the movement and help Ninjas learn — from sharing how they run sessions when social distancing is necessary, to translating online resources and web pages so that more people around the world can join the CoderDojo community.

    “We know that we’re not out there alone, that there’s a whole world of people who are all collaborating with the same mission in mind is really thrilling as well.”

    Nikole Vaughn, CoderDojo Collaborative in San Antonio, Texas

    4. You tell the team how to support you 

    Filling in surveys, emailing the CoderDojo team here, attending webinars, sharing your insights — these are all the ways you’re great at communicating your Dojo’s needs. We love supporting you!

    5. You help young people create positive change in their community 

    We love to hear about how CoderDojo volunteers help young people to create and learn with technology, and to become mentors for their peers. Recently we shared the stories of Avye, Laura, and Toshan, three incredible digital makers who, thanks to CoderDojo, are using technology to shape the world around them.

    Laura, teenage roboticist and CoderDojo Ninja, with and-Catherine Grace Coleman.
    Laura says, “I joined my local CoderDojo, and it changed my life.”

    6. You love a challenge

    From coding for the CoderDojo 10th birthday giveaway to the European Astro Pi Challenge, CoderDojo members love to put themselves to the test!   

    7. You brought Coolest Projects into the world 

    Coolest Projects is the world-leading technology fair for young people, and it originated in the CoderDojo community!

    The crowd at a Coolest Projects event.

    This year, in its ninth year running, Coolest Projects again was a platform for fantastic tech projects from Ninjas, including an AI bicycle app and a glove that makes music.

    8. You are committed to creating inclusive spaces 

    CoderDojo is a space for everyone to create and learn with technology. We love that Dojos get involved in projects such as the ‘Empowering the future’ guide to getting more girls involved in coding, and the CoderDojo Accessibility Guide to making Dojo sessions accessible for young people of all abilities and neurodiversity.

    A tweet about CoderDojo.

    9. You are a community that continues to grow stronger

    Over the last ten years, more than 3900 Dojos in 115 countries have run sessions for over 270000 young people and have been regularly supporting 100000 young coders! You’ve certainly brought the movement a long way from that very first session in Cork.   

    10. You are simply the best grassroots community on the planet! 

    All the volunteers who have put their time and energy into CoderDojo have made the movement what it is today, and we’d like to say a massive thank you to each and every one of you.

    A clip of David Bowie pointing at the viewer and saying 'you', with overlayed text 'you're the best'.

    Let’s celebrate together! 

    So prepare your favourite celebratory food and join us for the birthday livestream on Thursday 28 October at 18:00 BST! Take this chance to say hi to community members and celebrate everything that they have achieved in the last ten years.

    Set a reminder for the livestream, and tell us how you are celebrating CoderDojo’s 10th birthday using the hashtag #10YearsOfCoderDojo on Twitter. 

    Website: LINK

  • Celebrating the community: Laura

    Celebrating the community: Laura

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    We love seeing all the wonderful things people are doing in the community — that’s why we’re sharing our new series of short films documenting some of the incredible journeys of community members in all corners of the globe!

    A young woman with a robot she has built.
    Laura found her peer group at a local CoderDojo and has travelled the world with her friends and the robots they have built together.

    Today we bring you the third wonderful film in this series of community stories. For the series, we’ve been super lucky to collaborate with digital makers all over the world, and today’s story exemplifies how truly global the community is.

    Watch our video to find out how this ambitious young digital maker’s passion for creating with technology has propelled her around the world! 

    Say hi to Laura

    Laura’s journey began in her hometown of Timișoara, Romania. In Laura’s words: “I joined my local CoderDojo, and it changed my life.”

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngp51x3LCEc?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Help us celebrate Laura by liking and sharing her story on Twitter, Linkedin, or Facebook!

    Laura (17) started attending her CoderDojo coding club four years ago because she loves problem-solving and wanted to learn more about how digital technology works. Her biggest discovery at CoderDojo, however, was the other young people there, who were just as passionate about technology as she was. Laura says, “I had the opportunity to meet people with the same interests. Everybody was working, exchanging ideas, having fun!”

    Laura and the new friends she made worked together to solve problems in their local community: they built an autonomous waste-collecting robot and a drone-mounted air pollution monitor. 

    “I want to bring a change to the world.”

    Laura

    But Laura’s tech journey did not stop there. In 2017, she travelled to Dublin to present her latest project — a Raspberry Pi-powered, mind-controlled robot! — at Coolest Projects International, which introduced her to a global community of digital makers. And since then she’s even taken part in a robotics competition at MIT!

    At a Coolest Projects event, a teenage girl tests out her mind-controlled robot at a laptop with a man.
    At Coolest Projects International 2017, Laura demonstrated her mind-controlled robot to our CEO Philip — she said the robot worked really well with Philip because he has no hair!

    Working alongside like-minded peers and connecting with a global community of young tech creators has had a profound impact on Laura. She says, “I never imagined that I would have so many opportunities to travel, expand my horizons, and meet so many people. It’s thanks to CoderDojo and Coolest Projects that I’ve been able to build an amazing network of friends, and together we’re ready to take on the world.” 

    We are so excited to see what Laura will do next. Help us celebrate Laura by liking and sharing her story on Twitter, Linkedin, or Facebook!

    Website: LINK

  • Celebrating the community: Avye

    Celebrating the community: Avye

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    We’re excited to share another incredible story from the community — the second in our new series of inspirational short films that celebrate young tech creators across the world.

    A young teenager with glasses smiles
    Avye discovered robotics at her local CoderDojo and is on a mission to get more girls like her into tech.

    These stories showcase some of the wonderful things that young people are empowered to do when they learn how to create with technology. We hope that they will inspire many more young people to get creative with technology too!

    Meet Avye

    This time, you will meet an accomplished, young community member who is on a quest to encourage more girls to join her and get into digital making.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfaXHin_eLw?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Help us celebrate Avye by liking and sharing her story on Twitter, Linkedin, or Facebook!

    For as long as she can remember, Avye (13) has enjoyed creating things. It was at her local CoderDojo that seven-year-old Avye was introduced to the world of robotics. Avye’s second-ever robot, the Raspberry Pi–powered Voice O’Tronik Bot, went on to win the Hardware category at our Coolest Projects UK event in 2018.

    A girl shows off a robot she has built
    Avye showcased her Raspberry Pi–powered Voice O’Tronik Bot at Coolest Projects UK in 2018.

    Coding and digital making have become an integral part of Avye’s life, and she wants to help other girls discover these skills too. She says, “I believe that it’s important for girls and women to see and be aware of ordinary girls and women doing cool things in the STEM world.” Avye started running her own workshops for girls in their community and in 2018 founded Girls Into Coding. She has now teamed up with her mum Helene, who is committed to helping to drive the Girls Into Coding mission forwards.

    I want to get other girls like me interested in tech.

    Avye

    Avye has received multiple awards to celebrate her achievements, including the Princess Diana Award and Legacy Award in 2019. Most recently, in 2020, Avye won the TechWomen100 Award, the Women in Tech’s Aspiring Teen Award, and the FDM Everywoman in Tech Award!

    We cannot wait to see what the future has in store for her. Help us celebrate Avye and inspire others by liking and sharing her story on Twitter, Linkedin, or Facebook!

    Website: LINK

  • Real role models for International Women’s Day 2019

    Real role models for International Women’s Day 2019

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    The Raspberry Pi Foundation’s mission is to bring computing and digital making to everyone. Tackling the persistent gender imbalance in technology is a crucial part of this undertaking. As part of our work to increase the number of girls choosing to learn how to create with technology, we are marking International Women’s Day with a celebration of real role models.

    Real role models for International Women’s Day 2019

    Maria Quevedo, Managing Director, Code Club & Raspberry Pi Foundation, talks about the importance of real role models who show girls and women that computing

    Real role models are important

    There is strong evidence to indicate that the presence of role models is a very effective way to inspire women and minorities to become interested in subjects and industries where they are underrepresented. Research suggests that the imbalance among the role models that girls and women are exposed to in their everyday lives contributes significantly to the persistently low number of girls pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects at school, and ultimately impacts their career choices.

    Female role models in UK media

    In order to understand the extent of this imbalance, we carried out an analysis to explore the visibility of female technology role models in the UK media.

    One of our most striking findings was that in the twelve months since International Women’s Day 2018, each of the women competing in UK television’s Love Island 2018 was written about in the UK media on average seven times more often than 50 of the UK’s top female technology role models. And popular UK men’s lifestyle magazines were twice as likely to write about top female technology leaders than magazines aimed at women.

    We also looked at the subject matter covered by popular women’s and men’s magazines in the UK. We found that fashion (37% of all articles) and beauty (26%) were the most popular topics in women’s lifestyle media, while politics (5%) and careers (4%) were some of the least popular. The contrast with men’s lifestyle media was very pronounced. There, topic coverage was much more evenly distributed: fashion (21%) and politics (16%) came top, with grooming (12%) and careers (12%) close behind.

    In other words, in the women’s lifestyle magazines, about 14 articles are written about fashion and beauty for every one about careers. Men’s lifestyle magazines, meanwhile, publish one careers piece for every three fashion and grooming articles.

    Real role models in Code Club, CoderDojo, and beyond

    It’s alarming to see such a dramatic imbalance in visibility for female technology leaders, and such stark differences between the focus of women’s and men’s media. We work hard to make sure our activities such as Code Club and CoderDojo are equally welcoming to girls and boys, and we’re proud that 45% of the volunteers and educators who run these clubs are women. However, role models in wider society are just as important in shaping the values, beliefs, and ambitions of girls and women.

    We have a consistently high proportion of girls – around 40% – attending our Code Clubs and CoderDojos. But girls’ perceptions of computing, and their confidence, can be influenced hugely before they ever arrive at our clubs to give it a try – so much so that they may never arrive at all.

    In this context, the differences we observed between the topics that women’s and men’s media cover are troubling. It really comes down to balance: there is absolutely nothing wrong with reading about fashion or beauty, but greater diversity in the women, interests, and careers that saturate our popular culture would undoubtedly impact the gender imbalance that persists in sectors such as technology and science.

    We are for everyone

    When it comes to encouraging girls to take part in our digital skills activities, our approach is highly adaptable, but ultimately we are for everyone. We believe this inclusive approach is the most effective way of reinforcing that all genders are equally capable of enjoying and excelling at computing. It would be invaluable to see this reflected in popular culture.

    This International Women’s Day, we’re encouraging women to consider the ways in which we are real role models. Join us to celebrate the #RealRoleModels who inspire you, and share the fantastic contributions of girls and women in technology.

    Website: LINK

  • Scratch 3, and upgrading our free resources

    Scratch 3, and upgrading our free resources

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    On 2 January, MIT released the latest version of their incredible visual programming language: Scratch 3!

    Screenshot of Scratch 3 interface

    Scratch 3 is here

    We love Scratch — it’s the perfect starting point for young people who want to try coding, and we’re offering a huge variety of free Scratch project guides for all interests and coding abilities.

    Scratch 3 introduces a brand-new look and feel. The most obvious change is that the stage is now on the right-hand side; there are new paint and sound editing tools; new types of code blocks; and the blocks are now larger and easier to read.

    To help you and your young learners navigate the new Scratch 3 interface, we’ve created a free, printable Scratch 3 poster:

    Scratch 3 interface with annotations

    Perhaps the biggest news is that Scratch 3 also works on tablets, opening up coding to many children who don’t have access to a computer.

    We’ve upgraded!

    We want to make this a smooth transition for all of you who rely on our free project resources, whether that be at a Code Club, CoderDojo, Raspberry Jam, or at home, so we’ve been busy upgrading our resources to work with Scratch 3.

    Scratch 3 versions of all projects in the Code Club Scratch Modules 1–3 and the CoderDojo Scratch Sushi Cards are already live!

    Screenshot of Scratch 3 project on Raspberry Pi projects site

    The upgrading process also was a chance for us to review our resources to make sure they are the best they can be; as part of this, we’ve introduced a number of improvements, such as simplified layouts, better hints, and better print-outs.

    And we know that for many people, starting to use Scratch 3 is not simple, or not even possible yet, so we are committed to providing support for both Scratch 2 and 3 for the next 12 months.

    We are really pleased with how our newly polished Scratch projects turned out, and we hope you are too!

    What’s to come

    Over the coming months, we’ll update the rest of our Scratch projects. Meanwhile, our amazing volunteer translators will begin the process of translating the upgraded projects.

    Raspberry Pi projects site

    Brand-new projects that take advantage of some of Scratch 3’s new features are also in the pipeline!

    Scratch 3 on Pi

    Another reason for ensuring we support both Scratch 2 and 3 is that, at the moment, there is no offline, installable version of Scratch 3 for Raspberry Pi. Rest assured that this is something we are working on!

    The creation of Scratch 3 for Raspberry Pi will be a two-step process: first we’ll support MIT with their optimisation of Scratch 3 to make sure it delivers the best performance possible on a range of devices; once that work is complete, we’ll create an offline build of Scratch 3 for Raspberry Pi, including new extensions for the GPIO pins and the Sense HAT.

    Make sure you’re following us on Twitter and Facebook, as we’ll be announcing more information on this in the coming months!

    Website: LINK

  • Take part in Hour of Code 2018

    Take part in Hour of Code 2018

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Every year for the last five years, Hour of Code has encouraged school students to spend just one hour writing some code, in the hope that they get bitten by the bug rather than generating too many bugs! This year, you can find activities from the Raspberry Pi Foundation, Code Club, and CoderDojo on the official Hour of Code website.

    Boat race

    Boat race, a Code Club resource, is a one-hour project aimed at beginners. It guides students to use Scratch to create a game in which the player uses their mouse to navigate a boat to a desert island without bumping into obstacles.

    Scratch can run in any browser, or directly from a Raspberry Pi, making it on of the easiest ways for students to get into coding for the Hour of Code.

    The Boat race resource is available in many languages, including Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, and Ukrainian.

    Beginner Scratch Sushi Cards

    Again using Scratch, this CoderDojo project walks students through how to create a fish-catching game where the player controls a shark sprite.

    Astro Pi Mission Zero

    In in the Mission Zero project, students write a short Python program that checks the ambient temperature onboard the International Space Station, and leaves a message for the astronauts there!

    Students complete this Hour of Code challenge using the Trinket online Astro Pi simulator, and those based in an ESA Member or Associate States can submit their code to run onboard the ISS. They’ll even receive an official certificate showing where the ISS was when their code ran.

    A full list of ESA Member and Associate States can be found here.

    Us too!

    We don’t just create activities for other people to experience digital making and learning — we also get involved ourselves! Every month we host a maker day for our staff, where everyone can try out our digital making projects or even work on their own project. Our December maker day is during Hour of Code week, and we are going to make an extra-special effort and try to get as many staff members as possible coding!

    The educators at Raspberry Pi are fans of Seymour Papert’s constructionist learning philosophy — you can read his Mindstorms book in this free PDF — and the joy of learning through making isn’t just a thing for kids; adults get just as much positivity out of creating digital fart noises or animating crazed chickens to chase the Scratch cat. With the right support from our wide range of projects, anyone can make their own ideas a reality through coding — Senior Learning Manager Lauren, for example, got very excited about her Morrissey haiku project!

    Being able to code is creative; it lets you bring your idea to life, whether that’s something that could help millions of people or simply something you think would be cool.

    So, whether you’re an absolute beginner to coding or you’ve fixed so many bugs that your nickname is ‘The Exterminator’, what will YOU code this week?

    Website: LINK