CoderDojo Wants You

Over the last decade we bizarrely modelled our economic strategy on the game of Monopoly, and we now find that every developer, banker and politician had held on to their ‘Get out of jail free’ cards : (
One factor that was allowed to decline in these years was an emphasis on science and technology in our education policy, and as we are now attempting to build a genuine economy, we find that we don’t have the necessary through-put of relevant graduates to underpin our ambition of becoming the digital hub of Europe.

CoderDojo is an inspired venture that aims to rectify this. It is run by James Whelton and Bill Liao http://coderdojo.com/about-us/key-people/ and is a movement that is orientated around running free not-for-profit coding clubs and regular sessions for young people.

In their own words: At a CoderDojo, young people learn how to code, develop websites, apps, programs, games and more. Dojos are set up, run by and taught at by volunteers. Dojos organise tours of technology companies, bring in guest speakers to talk about their career and what they do, and organise events. In addition to learning to code, members meet like minded people, show off what they’ve been working on and so on. CoderDojo makes development and learning to code a fun, sociable, kick ass experience. CoderDojo also puts a strong emphasis on open source and free software, and has a strong network of members and volunteers globally.

CoderDojo are seeking Volunteers and Mentors to start new Dojos or assist with existing ones. Mentors and teachers should ideally possess: The willingness to deliver content passionately and interactively / A desire to encourage kids to take an interest in coding / An ability to think on your feet, kids ask some very interesting and challenging questions. You can register your interest here: http://coderdojo.com/help-us/mentor-or-teach/