Why should kids participate in tech innovation classes and bootcamps?
To understand the science of tech (computer science)? Yep! To learn how to code? Yep!
For NewTechKids, it’s even more simple than that. It’s to instill an innovator’s mindset and show them, from an early age, that they can become tech inventors. They can identify problems, then develop solutions and create new opportunities with tech knowledge, skills and materials. They can design, build and code physical prototypes which bring their ideas to life.
(Ocean explorer invented by kids in a NewTechKids class. A sensor sends a message to turn off the vehicle’s propellers when ocean animals are nearby.)
Kids should learn the science and rules of technology because this will transform them from passive technology users into technology inventors. Attending tech invention classes and programs gives them a type of learning experience they don’t typically get at school: one which equips them with the thinking, skills and confidence needed to develop solutions for problems or to create new products and services. Even if they don’t ultimately become technologists or inventors, they can:
- work with inventors and invention teams;
- have a basic understanding of the tech inventions they use; and
- evaluate the implications, consequences and ethics of tech inventions which influence their lives.
Learning how to invent robots and tech prototypes also gives them important, 21st century skills:
- Teamwork and collaboration: learning to work with others, listening, giving and receiving feedback
- Communication: articulating their ideas and presenting their finished products, answering questions
- Creativity: generating ideas, participating in structured creative processes
- Critical thinking: learning facts, identifying important issues related to these facts, choosing problems to solve with tech and then developing solutions (prototypes)
(Self-driving robot invented by a student to collect soil samples on Mars for NASA. This girl had never attended a tech invention class before.)
Not to mention a growth mindset since they learn to experiment, test what works and doesn’t, and to become comfortable with failure and trial and error.
Interested in helping kids transform into tech inventors? Register kids ages 8-12 for NewTechKids summer bootcamps in Amsterdam.