CoderDojo

Last updated

CoderDojo
Formation23 July 2011 (2011-07-23)
Founders Bill Liao, James Whelton
Founded at Cork, Ireland
Location
Website coderdojo.com

CoderDojo is a global volunteer-led community of free programming workshops for young people. The movement began in 2011 as a grassroots organisation with each individual clubs (called a dojo [], after the Japanese name for a hall or place for immersive learning, experiential learning) acting independently, with one founding principle: One Rule, Be Cool. Supporters of CoderDojo believe it is part of the solution to address the global shortage [1] [2] of programmers by getting young people more involved with ICT learning. The movement has seen significant growth since its founding. The CoderDojo Foundation estimates 1,250 Dojos spread across 69 countries, [3] with a growth rate of several new Dojos every week.

Contents

History

Founded in July 2011 by James Whelton [4] and Bill Liao, the first Dojo took place in NSC Cork, Ireland, on 23 July. [5] James and Bill were self-taught programmers and wanted to create a space where young people could learn code in a social environment. In less than one year, the CoderDojo movement was spread across Ireland and other cities like London in England, and San Francisco in the United States. [6] [7]

In 2012, Dojocon began as a series of annual gatherings for the global Coderdojo community. In 2012, Coolest Projects began as an annual showcase of ninja projects. In 2013, the Hello World Foundation was established by James Whelton. In 2014, Hello World foundation is rebranded as Coderdojo Foundation, focused on supporting, scaling, and empowering the CoderDojo Community. In 2015, the first of a series of Megadojo events was held. In 2017, Coderdojo merged with Raspberry Pi foundation, which also runs a parallel program called Code Club. [8] [9] Since then, Coderdojo has officially become part of the Code Club Community. [10] However, some Coderdojos are electing to continue operating independently as they always have done.

Press Coverage and Academic Studies

The emergent CoderDojo received positive reviews from newspapers including BBC, [11] CNN, [12] The Guardian, [13] The Irish Times [14] and TechCrunch. [15]

In 2023, Dr Abeer Alsheaibi of the School of Computer Science and Statistics published her phd thesis An Investigation of Teaching Approaches in a Non-formal Setting: An Exploratory Case Study of Irish CoderDojos [16]

CoderDojo Girls

Many CoderDojo volunteers focus on improving the extreme shortage of women in technology [17] [18] by using specific strategies to engage girls. Some Dojos run special CoderDojo Girls sessions to encourage young women to participate in computer science. There has been some success with attracting girls into Dojos through making female mentors visible to newcomers.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Globally there is a monumental shortage of programmers with the EU predicting a shortfall of almost 1 million technical workers by 2020 "Lack of coding skills may lead to skills shortage in Europe".
  2. ↑ "IT skills shortage is hurting UK companies". Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Raspberry Pi and CoderDojo Join Forces
  4. ↑ "30 Under 30: Social Entrepreneurs". Archived from the original on 21 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "Bill Liao and James Whelton to unleash Coder Dojos on schools".
  6. ↑ "CoderDojo is going international, says teenage entrepreneur (video)".
  7. ↑ "CoderDojo launches new coding club in Silicon Valley".
  8. ↑ "Raspberry Pi foundation merges with CoderDojo Foundation" . Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  9. ↑ "Raspberry Pi Foundation and CoderDojo to code club together". TechCrunch. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  10. ↑ https://codeclub.org/en/coderdojo-community.
  11. ↑ "Coding in class - teachers told to take a back seat".
  12. ↑ "Coder club turns out tween tech prodigies".
  13. ↑ "Coderdojo inspires kids to program anytime, anywhere".
  14. ↑ "Know The Code: the rise and rise of the CoderDojo movement".
  15. ↑ "CoderDojo Partners with GitHub to Create a New Generation of Hackers".
  16. ↑ https://www.tara.tcd.ie/handle/2262/104106?show=full
  17. ↑ In 2013, women made up 14 percent of all computer science graduates — down from 36 percent in 1984. This imbalance persists in the tech industry. "How to Get Girls Into Coding".
  18. ↑ "CoderDojo blazing a trail for young females in ICT and coding".
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