New Tech Kids | NewTechKids

4 Sep 2020

Code Games Competition: Design and Develop Original Games

Encouraging kids to participate in challenges and competitions is an important part of tech innovation education. Code Games is an initiative whereby kids ages 10-18 around the world are invited to enter a global competition to design and develop original video games. The competition is organized into two age divisions: a Junior Division for entrants ages 10-13 and a Senior Division for entrants ages 14-18. Entries in the Junior Division are not in competition with

2 Sep 2020

Zerus and Ona Book Series: Teaching Tech Literacy to Kids

By NewTechKids

Another great resource for teaching technology literacy to children is the 'Zerus and Ona: Adventures in the Binary World' book series developed by Miriam Tocino. Miriam is a software developer, coding teacher, illustrator and author based in Amsterdam. The inspiration for her book series came three years ago when she had her son and started thinking about how to introduce him to the world of computers. She uses characters called Zerus and Ona which are based on binary 0s and

14 Jul 2020

PreparationTech: Zuby Onwuta on inventing tech for the blind

By NewTechKids

It's important to teach kids that technology inventions often come from personal needs and experiences of adversity. In this excerpt from the PreparationTech interview featuring Zuby Onwuta, this African inventor and disability advocate talks about his personal experience of losing his eyesight and how it caused him to blend medical research, his training in engineering and passion for technology. Zuby is the inventor of 'Think and Zoom’ technology which magnifies objects based on brain wave

5 Jul 2020

NewTechKids’ Health and Safety Measures

By NewTechKids

NewTechKids and the Amsterdam Public Library (OBA) strictly adhere to the COVID-19 social distancing recommendations issued by the Dutch government. Our bootcamps take place in OBA's Junior Lab, a large, well-ventilated room. NewTechKids is using AI-based software to design our classroom layout and the placement of tables and chairs, location of teacher, etc. Tables and chairs are spaced apart to encourage social distancing. Each class, NewTechKids' teacher checks the temperature of all children with a

5 Jul 2020

Summer Activities for Kids at Amsterdam Library

By NewTechKids

NewTechKids is a long-time collaborator with the Amsterdam Public Library (Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam) and Maakplaats021, the Library's Maker Space initiative. This summer, in recognition that many families are not going on holiday due to COVID-19, Maakplaats021 is organizing a series of summer holiday activities in their locations around Amsterdam for kids ages 8-12 from July 6th to August 24th. Activities include art and design, robotics, 3D printing, laser cutting, engraving, painting, film, photography, AR and

30 Jun 2020

PreparationTech: Danielle Geathers on thriving at MIT

By NewTechKids

"I personally hate to code. I understand how beneficial it is but to me, if engineering was projected as coding and robotics, it wouldn't be something that suits me." In this PreparationTech interview produced by NewTechKids, Danielle Geathers, a third-year Engineering student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the first black, female President of the Undergraduate Association at MIT (student government) in 159 years, advises parents, teachers and school counsellors to focus on teaching

4 Jul 2020

NewTechKids Using AI to design summer camp learning space

By NewTechKids

NewTechKids is busy preparing to give summer camps at the Amsterdam Public Library beginning next week. Keeping kids healthy and safe is our number one priority (on top of teaching them about technological innovation) so we are adhering to social distancing and hygiene rules mandated by the Library. This also applies to the space in which we will teach. We are limiting the amount of kids in each camp and camps will take place in

22 Jun 2020

PreparationTech: Babusi Nyoni on being a self-taught machine learning expert

By NewTechKids

Parents, teachers, school counsellors: technologists don't need computer science degrees. They can be self-taught. Some programmers, data scientists, AI and machine learning experts, especially those who don't have access to formal college and university programs, have taught themselves using free online resources, online courses and project-based learning. In this PreparationTech interview, Deborah Carter, NewTechKids' Founder and MD, interviews Babusi Nyoni, an African design strategist and innovator who is entirely self-taught. After graduating from high school

10 Jun 2020

New Zoom Summer Courses

By NewTechKids

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a massive shift to online learning. The NewTechKids team is joining the wave of educators who are developing new and dynamic ways to teach children online about technological innovation, computer science, programming and robotics. This summer, we'll be offering four, Zoom-based robotics courses for kids ages 8-12 under the theme "Tech Inventors to the Rescue". Kids from different countries with little to no previous experience in building and coding will

9 Jun 2020

New ‘Ethics and Technology’ Lesson Module

By NewTechKids

Being able to think deeply and critically about technology and its implications is becoming as important as understanding computer science and knowing how to code. This is because the technology we currently have is directly related to the perspectives, values and even biases of the technologists who create it. To help kids develop critical thinking skills, NewTechKids is developing new lessons and teaching resources which help primary school-aged kids explore the ethics of technology. Our