This document discusses how to organize a successful coding lab for kids. It recommends making the lab fun by having kids work on projects they are passionate about and allowing peer collaboration and play. It also suggests making the lab useful by teaching computational thinking concepts like loops and conditionals. Finally, it advises having well-designed rules, sufficient resources, and good logistics to ensure the coding lab runs smoothly. The goal is for kids to have fun learning and be eager to learn more about coding.

1. Coding with Kids
How to organize a successful coding lab.
A story of inclusive, fun, collaborative
learning
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2. A bit about me
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Azzurra
Ragone
Women
Techmakers
Lead - Italy
Member of GDG
Bari
CoderMentor
@CoderDojo
Member of
Matera2019
WebTeam

3. Problem
• How to organize a coding lab for kids which is:
– Fun
– Useful
– Well-designed
– Successful
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4. #GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Fun: kids do not get bored

5. #WTM15
Useful: kids learn the logic behind the computational thinking

6. #WTM15
Well-designed (rules, resources & logistics)

7. #WTM15
Successful (kids get curious & are eager to learn more)

8. #GDGSummit15 #GDGBari

9. CD is an international network of volunteers
organizing tech labs for kids (7-17 y/old) to
teach them how to code, develop apps,
games and explore technology.
What’s CoderDojo?

10. James Whelton
Bill Liao
The first Coder Dojo was
launched in 2011 in Cork

11. More than 600 dojos in the world

12. …and more than 60 in Italy
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13. #GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Fun: kids do not get bored

14. Projects
Passion
Peer
Play
Creative learning methodology
http://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/

15. Projects
• People learn best when actively working on
projects—generating ideas, designing prototypes,
making improvements, and creating final products.
• Ex: creating a
– video game,
– an app
– something (MakeyMakey)
http://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/

16. Passion
• When focusing on meaningful tasks, people
work longer and harder, persist in the face of
challenges, and learn more in the process.
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http://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/

17. Peer
• Learning flourishes as a social activity-with
people sharing ideas, collaborating on
projects, and building on one another's work
• Ex:
– sharing code
– Peer tutor
http://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/

18. Play
• Learning involves playful experimentation-
trying new things, tinkering with materials,
testing boundaries, taking risks, and iterating
again and again
http://learn.media.mit.edu/lcl/

19. Summing up: be creative!
• Trial&Error
• Do not be afraid to make mistakes
• Collaboration: share pieces of code
• Be curious: experiment without fear
• Work on concrete problems/projects
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20. #WTM15
Useful: kids learn the logic behind the computational thinking

21. #GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
CT
Loops
Parallelism
ConditionalsOperators
Data
Computational Thinking

22. #WTM15

23. #WTM15
Well-designed (Rules, resources & logistics)

24. A typical coding session
Tutorial
Snack
Let’s play!

25. Rules&Logistics
• Mentors ratio: 1/8
• Mentors should be easily identifiable (red t-shirt)
• Make clear the rules at the beginning
• Gesture rules:
– Lift a finger for gesture
– Join hands for applause
• Logistics (do a check list):
– Power strips, microfone, speakers, etc.
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26. 1. Be curious
2. Kids are competent
3. Be on their side, not in front
4. Doing errors is good
5. Be supportive
6. Don’t say no!
7. Have fun!
7 golden rules for mentors
(Barbara - CoderDojo Milano)

27. What about parents?
• It is recommended though that parents give
their young people space and freedom to
express creative discovery learning
(Coderdojo.org)
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28. #GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Attendance Certificates & Feedback

29. Photo: Marco Quarta

30. Some feedback
- I have had lots of fun and I
invented a videogame
- It’s supercool, I wanna do
it again
- I have to say that I did not
want to come initially,
because of homework, but
it has been fun. I thought it
was very difficult to create
a videogame, instead it
was very simple and now I
know what to do when I do
not what to do.
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31. Scratch
LEGO
WeDo
Makey
Makey
Resources
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32. Or Tablets:
ScratchJr (3-5 y/old)
Scratch for:
Linux
Mac
Windows

34. #WTM15

35. #WTM15

36. #GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
Lego We Do

37. Makey Makey
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38. #WTM15
Successful (kids get curious & are eager to learn more)
If you mix up all the ingredients!

39. Resources (Bib)
• CoderDojo’s Opensource Knowledge DB:
• Creative learning
• Computational thinking with Scratch
• LEGO WeDo + Scratch
• Peer tutor
• Let’s teach kids to code – TEDx Talk by Mitch Resnick
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40. Tools&Resources
• Scratch:
• LEGO WeDo:
• Makey Makey:
• Made with code (lots of fun games, various levels)
• Code.org (classes, tutorials, etc.)
• Pencil Code Gim (Open source coding lab allowing kids to
draw, play music & create fiction)
• Blockly (blocks to introduce fundamental coding concepts)
• MIT app inventor (drag&drop interface to create android
app – middle school & up)
• More on “Google for Education”
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41. #GDGSummit15 #GDGBari
European Capital of Culture 2019

42. #GDGSummit15 #GDGBari

43. Contacts
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https://about.me/azzurraragone
google.com/+AzzurraRagone
@azzurraragone

44. Thanks to:
 All my CoderDojo friends @CoderDojoMT,
especially @Piersoft
 Thanks to Nick for the #bigcoderdojo video
 And finally thanks to Matera2019
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