Dive Brief:
- CoderDojos — freeform spaces where students as young as five can explore coding projects — are blossoming around the country and the world.
- The brainchild of 18-year old Irish hacker, James Whelton, there are now more than 1,200 clubs in 65 countries and are staffed by volunteers. The clubs are open-source, inviting anyone to start one.
- Projects are entirely open-ended, often focusing on robotics and coding activities using simple languages. Around 1/3 of all attendees and mentors are currently girls.
Dive Insight:
Teaching coding skills to young students has been popular during the past few years, as schools and parents realize the importance of computer science on our lives and the future economy — colleges still are not turning out enough computer science grads to meet demand. And research shows it's valuable. Students as young as four can learn complex programming concepts, provided syntax is simplified enough for them, and it can be a gateway to stronger reading comprehension.
Perhaps the greatest benefit, however, is its link to 21-t century skills, such as independent learning, and the way programming promotes what ed tech pioneer Semour Papert called "hard fun," where students work diligently to solve difficult problems while still enjoying themselves. In this way, CoderDojo-like clubs, which move emphasis away from standard curriculum and let students explore coding as it interests them can lead to more meaningful, organic experiences in the long run.