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
Read more
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
Read more
Parents, teachers, school counsellors: do you know a kid who is fascinated by inventions, inventors and technology? In this PreparationTech interview, Deborah Carter, NewTechKids' Founder and MD, interviews Natalie Raffoul, Managing Partner at Brion Raffoul and one of the top Intellectual Property (IP) and patent lawyers in Canada. "I'm Managing Partner of a law practice called Brion Raffoul. We have a group of really great professionals here with technical backgrounds who advise innovative companies on
Read more
We reached out to Leah Plunkett, author of the book "Sharenthood: why we should think before we talk about our kids online", and she had this advice for parents, caregivers and teachers engaged in social media activities. "Use a holiday card rule of thumb to decide whether, when, how, why, and with whom to sharent: if you would put the photo or news update into a hard copy letter, print and mail out hundreds of copies
Read more
A few months back, Deborah Carter, Founder of NewTechKids, had an interesting conversation with a Google executive responsible for the company's computer science education initiatives worldwide. The executive remarked that there are huge discrepancies in student knowledge amongst first year students enrolled in university and college computer science courses. Those who have taken courses, participated in school clubs and extracurricular activities, and/or explored programming with parents or other adults have a huge advantage. Those with
Read more
NewTechKids is pleased to announce that we will again participate as one of the programming partners for EF Tours' 2019 Global Leadership Summit event series taking place in Europe this summer. The summit will bring together students ages 14-18 from around the world and NewTechKids will teach them in both Amsterdam and Davos, Switzerland. In early July, NewTechKids will teach a series of computer science and programming workshops in Amsterdam during which students will explore
Read more
NewTechKids is pleased to announce that it is again collaborating with EF Tours, as a programming partner for its summer Global Leadership Summit events in Europe. EF Tours is an international education company that specializes in language training, educational travel, academic degree programs, and cultural exchange We'll be teaching a series of design and computer science workshops to high school students from around the world during events in Amsterdam and Davos, Switzerland. During our workshops in
Read more
Preparing children, starting in primary school, to be successful technologists requires parents and teachers to make them aware of the benefit of studying computer science, programming, technology systems and design. Case in point: any child interested in working in a sports-related profession. Technology is transforming the sports industry. Examples include: Web sites which provide stats, stream live games and competitions and provide the latest news; Online games which enable players to play sports virtually and
Read more
LEGO Mindstorms is one of our favourite tools for teaching children ages seven to 12. It is a tangible tool which provides children with a realistic experience of designing, building and programming technology. It also teaches children that hardware and software influence each other and need to work together in order to develop successful technology prototypes. Many of our students say that they first realised the power and fun of computer science after they built their
Read more
With artificial intelligence (AI) all around us, NewTechKids decided to teach a special AI bootcamp during last week’s Fall school vacation in Amsterdam. Our goal: to kids what AI is, the thinking behind it, how it’s being used in everything from self-driving cars to customer service and Siri, Apple’s ‘intelligent’ personal assistant, and the pros and cons of this technology. Developed by Stichting NewTechKids and sponsored by Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (Amsterdam Municipal Library), the course
Read more