Welcome to CoderDojo!St. Louis CoderDojo Volunteers Meetup

A Brief History• Started in James Whelton’s school (Cork, Ireland) in early 2011 when James

received some publicity after hacking the iPod Nano • Some younger students expressed an interest in learning how to code

• He setup a computer club in his school teaching basic HTML and CSS

• Later that year he met Bill Liao, a entrepreneur/philanthropist, interested in growing the project • In June 2011, the first CoderDojo was launched at the National Software Centre in

Cork

• Owing to this popularity a Dublin dojo was launched soon after in Google’s Montevetro building• The increasing success lead to more Dojos around Ireland and the world.

Geography

Who’s Who

CoderDojo Board of Directors

James Whelton(co-founder)

Bill Liao(co-founder)

Una Fox Sean O'Sullivan Noel Ruane Cyril Treacy

Who’s Who

Mary Moloney

Rosa Langhammer Laura Ivers Giustina

Mizzoni

Ursula Everett

Eugene McDonough

Pete O'Shea

Communtity Committee

• The CoderDojo community committee is a semi structured group of active CoderDojo community members whose purpose is to guide and advise the CoderDojo Foundation on certain key decisions.

• The Committee acts as an ear on the ground within the community and gives information about the needs, challenges and operations of the CoderDojo community in certain regions.

• They also engage in discussion on proposed resource development and assist with policy development relating the CoderDojo community.

What is taught at a dojo?HTML5/CSS

ScratchJavascript

C/C++Java

C#/SwiftApp development

Game developmentMinecraft modding

Web designPython

RubyRaspberry Pi

ArduinoAnd much more…

3D PrintingElectronics

RoboticsProblem solving

Teamwork & collaboration

Math & Science

The lingo

• Badges: digital badges are Mozilla Open Badges awarded to ninjas for skills learned or attendance at a dojo through Zen

• “One Rule, Be Cool”: Helping, sharing, supporting, encouraging, cooperating, and being kind are cool! Bullying, lying, wasting time and being disruptive are totally uncool!

• Belts: colored USB wristbands with increasing storage that represent achievement levels (i.e. rank) earned by ninja

The lingo

• Champion: an individual who volunteers to take charge of setting up, running, and maintaining a dojo. Champions possess the skills to bring together mentors and volunteers, arrange a venue, and attract supporters. Champions do not have to be technically skilled.

• Coolest Projects: an annual event at DojoCon that showcases creativity among members of the CoderDojo community.

• Dojo: free tech club for young people between 5 and 17. In addition to learning to code and/or make, members meet like-minded people, present current projects, and engage with peers.

The lingo

• DojoCon: the official conference for CoderDojo, open to anyone involved or interested in CoderDojo. DojoCon aims to build on the growth of the CoderDojo community by offering an opportunity to share and discover how to encourage the next generation of coders.

• E.C.H.O.: stands for Ethos, Culture, Happiness, Outcomes, ECHO is the philosphical guide to CoderDojo.

• Kata: the CoderDojo wiki, Kata is the first stop to find learning resources for CoderDojo

The lingo

• Mentor: a technically skilled volunteer who guides dojo attendees and facilitates project work and learning during dojo sessions. Mentors usually have a preferred area of expertise which can influence topics covered in a dojo.

• Ninja: youth members of the CoderDojo community between 5 and 17 years old. Ninjas with the desire can be mentors and champions.

• Sushi: short, one concept lessons on laminated cards, Sushi cards are created by the CoderDojo community on Kata. The lessons aim to be ‘bite-sized’. (Get it?)

The lingo

• Volunteer: any individual that helps with administration or other tasks. Parents, non-technical individuals, or any one who wants to help out at the dojo is a volunteer.

• Zen: the CoderDojo community platform, Zen has a list of all dojos nationally, forums for members, and tools for champions to award badges to dojo members (mentors, volunteers, ninjas)

• Tao: the ‘best practices’ for the global CoderDojo community, developed in 2014.

• CoderDojo Foundation: international non-profit organization (formerly the HelloWorld Foundation), headquartered in Dublin. The Foundation staffs ~6 full-time employees (as of 2014)

https://youtu.be/z_gcHGa8J1E

The Philosophy of ECHO

• Encourage collaboration

• Pair programming

• Group/team projects

• “Ask 3, then me”

• Youth mentors

• Technology => positive change

• Parental involvement

• Empower ninjas

• Self-led learning

• Mentors teach how to solve problems NOT by solving problems

• Fun and social

• Attendance isn’t expected

• Creativity and failure is encouraged

• Feedback is constructive and positive

The Philosophy of ECHO

• Open source

• Free and accessible

• Lowers boundaries to inclusion

• Collaborative and community-driven

• Inclusive and free!

• Self-led learning

• Mentors facilitate, not lecture

• Non-curriculum, project based

• Self paced, exploratory

• Learning measured by skills/knowledge acquired

Tao: the CoderDojo Path1. Build a volunteer-led community

2. Create a safe space for youth

3. Encompass the CoderDojo ethos (ECHO)

4. Teach and practice online safety

5. Reviews and communication between Foundation and dojos

⚠️

Still a “work-in-progress”

Child safety

• The CoderDojo Foundation has recently partnered in the US with Verified Volunteers, a volunteer-screening service, to provide dojos w/o a 501c status access to background checks

• One-time fee of $32 paid to Verified Volunteers

• Background check is available to numerous volunteer organizations (e.g. Hands-On St. Louis)

• With the new Zen platform, dojo communication can be done safely while protecting ninjas and mentors

CoderDojo in St. Louis• St. Louis, Missouri @ WUSTL• Private – Brittany Woods Middle and Soaring Saturdays participants

• Every Sat, 10-11 AM

• Run by students from WUSTL Engineering school

• CoderDojo STL• Started July 19th by Stephen Berg

• Facebook, Twitter, WordPress

• Hosting dojo at Science Center’s First Friday events

• Has interest of parents, St. Charles CC, LaunchCode, home school groups, MasterCard

• Needs mentors

Considerations for a successful dojo“No plan survives first contact with the enemy”

Location

Time/frequency

Community partnerships

Parental involvement & inclusion

Communication channels

Internal organization