10 things i've learned teaching coding to kids

Gicela Morales @gicela @codingbug

10 things I’ve learned teaching coding to kids

All children are creative1.

Characters they love always a good starting point

Children love drawing & have fantastic imagination

They are storytellers 2.

Every story is unique

The tardis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdPxT74zZS8

https://youtu.be/j4mmO7QiWLA

https://youtu.be/1VJMlw7dB3U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ3yOLlTk7E

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/28963678/

… and begin to grasp computational thinking

They all love Minecraft3.

Minecraft is always at the top of the games list

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp6DxZyDuRw

Sharing & collaborating4.

Show & tell helps kids learn from each other through sharing

Helping others helps kids to understand about collaboration

JavaScript is easy5.

Animating with javaScript is fun

‘Live coding’ javaScript while playing with Codecombat

Making apps with Bitsbox

Free and open6.

ICT rooms are BORING!

Freedom to move about

Playful atmosphere

It’s got to be fun!7.

“I love coding because it’s fun”

“I love coding because it teaches me how to make my own games”

“I love coding because I like making new apps”

Boys & girls work together…8.

They are used to seeing each other in class

A coding class is no different!

It’s normal :)

…but STILL more boys than girls9.

About 10% of children attending coding club are girls

Who is responsible for encouraging girls to learn to code?

Tablets aren’t really that exciting - but desktops are!

The ‘ICT Suite’ is outdated; we desperately need new spaces for learning

10. The technology

Catching the coding bugKeep creating new stories & games

Leave the boring bits out

Experiment with different educational technologies

Educational technologies…

#SummerOfCode

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB1AJ_eJytk

100 places

97% turned up

STEM ambassadorhttp://www.stemnet.org.uk/ambassadors/

CoderDojo https://coderdojo.com/volunteer/

How to get involved…

Code club https://www.codeclub.org.uk/start-a-club/volunteers

Volunteer in local your school

CodingbugGicela Morales @gicela @codingbug

Inspiring the next generation of coders