More than ever, children need to understand how technology works and how to innovate to be prepared for our world of constant technological development. To help ensure that this happens in Amsterdam, NewTechKids is partnering with the OBA (the Amsterdam Municipal Library) and Maakplaats 021 to offer a range of computer science and computational thinking programs for primary school students and their teachers. Maakplaats 021 was initiated by OBA, Waag Society, Pakhuis de Zwijger and
Read moreAll posts
Tomorrow, EU Code Week 2017 kicks off! From October 7-22, organisations across Europe will be organising activities which bring coding and digital literacy to children and adults. Many are free so please get involved! See the EU Code Week 2017 Events Calendar for activities taking place across Europe. Another great source of coding-related activities is Codestarter, a joint venture between Google Netherlands and NEMO Science Center, which provides a list covering the entire Netherlands. Every
Read moreEducation systems around the world are lagging behind in integrating technology education into their curriculum and teaching approaches. This is forcing proactive schools, teachers and parents to take matters into their own hands and seek out educational activities for children which are related to computer science, programming and technological literacy. NewTechKids should know! Here are some tips for deciding what types of computer science activities to consider: Tip: Know the difference between coding and programming
Read moreNewTechKids works with primary schools in the Amsterdam area to help introduce computational thinking and computer science programs as part of formal school curriculum. Our programs integrate pedagogy, didactics, teaching approaches and classroom management and are based on the curriculum, lesson plans and teaching materials that we've developed, tested and taught over the last three years. Below are some of the schools where we've taught: Leonardo da Vinci School, Amsterdam NewTechKids teaches computer science programs
Read moreThis week, primary school children in Amsterdam head back to school. Like so many previous academic years, most of them will not have any computer science or computational thinking lessons as part of formal school curricula. As long as education systems here in the Netherlands and around the world don't integrate these, we urge parents to take matters into their own hands. Intervening early will ensure that children acquire 21st century skills and prepare them
Read moreThis summer, NewTechKids taught a new round of computer science bootcamps to children ages 7-12. We've been reviewing how and what we teach and how to engage a broad range of students, including kids with no previous exposure to computer science education, girls, minorities and children from low-income communities. We concluded that in addition to teaching computational thinking skills and computer science concepts, our job is to inspire kids and to cultivate curiosity about technology:
Read moreNewTechKids is pleased to announce its Fall 2017 line up of activities. We have spent the summer developing and testing new approaches to computer science education in partnership with our non-profit foundation, Stichting NewTechKids. During two, brand-new bootcamps, we taught computer science concepts along with a stronger focus on technological literacy. This took the form of presenting technology case studies and concepts for new technology and leading in-depth class discussions on the implications of technology
Read moreFor the third year in a row, NewTechKids will give workshops at Codestarter, Science Center NEMO's annual event focused on encouraging children ages 8 - 11 to learn how to program. Codestarter is a free event which takes place on Saturday, July 1st. Four rounds of workshops will take place from 10:00 - 15:30. NewTechKids will be giving our popular no tech, 'Intro to Coding' which introduces young children to computer science concepts such as commands,
Read moreNewTechKids hosted a teacher training workshop on June 6th, 2017 as part of the 'Learning Fair' event organised by Projectenbureau Primair Onderwijs Zuidoost (PPOZO). Projectenbureau Primair Onderwijs Zuidoost (PPOZO) is the organization which coordinates after-school activities for primary schLearnool students in Amsterdam Southeast, one of the city's most economically-disadvantaged communities. It works with 10 school boards representing 29 schools in the area and 7017 students. Scrum: an important teaching tool to help students develop 21st century skills Scrum
Read moreNewTechKids has been invited to contribute to VHTO’s new teacher training initiative, DigiLeerKracht. The initiative will focus on providing free training and support for primary school teachers in the Netherlands who are interested in teaching computational thinking in the context of programming. The initiative aims to train 2000 teachers from 2017 - 2019. The initiative is supported by Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google. VHTO is the Dutch national expert organization focused on the participation
Read more