The first speaker of this short conference was Mary Maloney who is the Global CEO for a company called CoderDojo.
CoderDojo is a ‘global network of free, volunteer-led, independent community bases programming clubs’ for children aged between 7 and 17. These young people learn how to code and develop the likes of apps, games and websites.
The reason behind this global network is that they believe that kids need to be able to understand the technology they are using and they want to help the younger generation to build technology skills and have a basic confidence in technology.
Ms. Maloney stated that CoderDojo has around 600 Dojos active around the world in 58 countries (including almost 200 Dojos in Ireland) with over 50,000 kids taking part.
Mary Maloney explained that there are many reasons why CoderDoho is so special. It is volunteer-led, self-led learning, free, community based, has a collaborative approach and is child centric in which children are not forced to do anything they so not with to do or that they have no interest in. It is up to the child to choose what they want to do or learn based on their own personal interests.
Children are encouraged to think of ways to change not their life, but other people’s lives.
CoderDojo has 2 rules, and 2 rules only:
1. ‘One rule, be cool.’
2. ‘Ask 3, then me.’
According to Mary, the vision of the company is that every child should have an opportunity to learn in a safe and social environment. As a result, the company has tripled in size and they have also gained a partership with Silicon Peace.
Many children who are a part of CoderDojo end up becoming a mentor or even start their own Dojo as they have gained a wide range of skills and can now share them with others. According to Ms. Maloney, there are children ages 9 and 10 who are currently mentoring their own classes.
We were told a story of a girl who found a fault in the ESB map of available charging points around Ireland. She noticed that we are shown where they are but not if they are currently being occupied by another customer. She then went on to correct the problem by creating her own tool by herself.
I was fascinated by Mary Maloney’s talk. Before the conference I had never heard of CoderDojo before. I think it is a very innovative idea, and I agree with them in that children need to understand the technology they are using as it is becoming more and more important in the day-to-day running of businesses and in our personal lives as well.
DICE2014/15 