On July 4, 2023, something momentous happened in the Netherlands. The Dutch Minister of Education Robbert Dijkgraaf issued an urgent guideline calling for the banning of all mobile telephones from Dutch high schools as of January 2024. It's just a guideline and not enforceable but it's a big deal that the Dutch government has taken this step. Individual high schools are expected to develop their own specific terms related to the ban based on input from

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Can computers and AI create original art? What is better: art made by humans or art made by machines? Why? These are some questions you can discuss with your child(ren) while teaching them about Artificial Intelligence (AI) found in real life. To give a specific context to the discussion, play around with some of the free AI art generators which are available online. An AI art generator is a computer program which generates images based

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Register for NewTechKids bootcamps. Teaching through the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging, to say the least.  But it has become even more challenging now that cases have risen rapidly in the Netherlands due to the Omicron variant. From the start, NewTechKids has taken serious measures to protect our students and teachers and reduce the risk of transmission in our after-school and holiday bootcamps. This includes requiring our students to wear masks for the duration of

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The COVID-19 pandemic stressed the central role that parents and caregivers play in the education of children. Virtual homeschooling forced these adults into the roles of informal teachers and task masters. The rapid transformation of education (pedagogies, subject matter, teaching environments, technology, etc.) means that the formal school system is largely outdated and struggling to align itself with 21st century reality. No more so than preparing kids and teens for a world of constant technological

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Parents and caregivers, self-directed, independent learning is one of the most important skills you can help your children develop. This is a skill that kids will need for their entire lives to acquire knowledge, strengthen their critical thinking and master new technical skills. The Internet is your friend! NewTechKids challenges you to use summer 2021 to start. We've curated this short list of free, online activities featuring premium content. Reading: Summer 2021 Learning with the New

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The world is changing at a break-neck speed because of technological innovation. This makes it difficult for parents, teachers and school counsellors to keep up-to-speed on the study and training paths and career opportunities that are available when kids have technology-related knowledge and skills. NewTechKids has launched PreparationTech, a video interview series to fill this knowledge gap. Each week, Deborah Carter, NewTechKids' Founder and Managing Director, interviews technologists and professionals from around the world about

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Sesame Street offers great online resources which provide learning activities for younger children. (Also a great resource for older, non-English speaking kids who want to learn English in a fun way.) Sesame Street has launched a new Web site called "Caring for Each Other" which provides songs, games, free eBooks, video, art, discussion topics, printable worksheets and more and features both Sesame Street characters and celebrities such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tracee Ellis Ross and Anne

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NewTechKids discussed the pros and cons of video games and gaming with Matteo Rinaldi, who graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a Master's of Science, specializing in Communication Science, Persuasive and Entertainment Communication. One of his research areas focused on media and children's development. He wrote the blog post below based on his Masters research. It outlines his views on the benefits of gaming and his top recommendations for video games and gaming apps

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Being able to learn constantly and apply knowledge and skills throughout one's life will be the key to achieving success in the 21st century. It also reflects a mindset which needs to be nurtured from a young age, especially for future innovators. But how do you get to this point. Turns out that there are tried and true effective learning and studying techniques which are backed by science. Unfortunately, most people aren't using them. Which

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Ten days left until NewTechKids' 'How to Raise a Tech Innovator' evening class for parents on January 30th. The class takes place from 19:00 - 21:00 at the central branch of the Amsterdam Public Library. Register now! We thought we'd share some interesting findings from the registration information provided by parents who will attend the class. 100%: parents of boys (The fact that no parents of girls have signed up for the class is unfortunate.

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