New Tech Kids | Amsterdam

6 Apr 2016

Arts Education + Computer Science

NewTechKids believes that it's important to find new ways to teach computer science which bring out the creativity in children. That's why we love to integrate arts education into our computer science programs. We were super thrilled to teach two teacher training workshops today as part of the cultural education event organised by MOCCA, an education advisory organization based in Amsterdam. During the workshops held at Theater Meervaart, we taught our 'Intro to Coding and Computational Thinking'

4 Mar 2016

NewTechKids teaching about smart energy technology

By NewTechKids

Computers and digital technology systems are embedded in all kinds of devices around us. Last week, Quby, an Amsterdam-based company, helped NewTechKids demonstrate this to students in our 'Systems Thinking and Hardware' bootcamp. Quby has developed Toon, a smart thermostat that enables consumers to manage their energy consumption more efficiently. Toon was developed for Eneco, a Dutch energy company. Working with NewTechKids, Dimitris Stafylarakis and Vassilis Aretakis (Quby developers) co-developed a lesson focused on the concept of feedback and its importance for technology systems which process data. Students learned

24 Feb 2016

NewTechKids Teacher Training for MOCCA

By NewTechKids

NewTechKids has been invited by MOCCA to host two teacher training sessions during its Cultural Education Conference on April 6th at the Meervaart Theatre in Amsterdam. The conference is part of MOCCA's 2016 Month of Cultural Education. MOCCA is an Amsterdam organization which advises schools and cultural institutions in the design and implementation of cultural education. During the sessions, NewTechKids will train primary school teachers to give one of its lessons which combines technology and computer science education with

13 Feb 2016

Brainstorm at Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum

By NewTechKids

On Monday, February 8th, NewTechKids co-hosted a brainstorm session with Amsterdam's new Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. Still under construction, the museum provided the ideal blank slate for re-imagining how primary school students engage with museum content. Participants developed ideas on how to develop school programs for museums which leverage technology to create engaging experiences. The goal was to develop ideas for experiences which encourage students (8-12 years) to discover new information, think critically, and

30 Jan 2016

Announcing US ‘Computer Science for All’ Initiative

By NewTechKids

Today was a historic day for computer science education and a huge validation for NewTechKids. President Obama announced the 'Computer Science for All' initiative which will bring computer science education to all students in America, beginning in primary school. President Obama is calling for US$4 billion to be allocated in the 2017 budget to Congress to significantly increase the teaching of computer science, namely by developing teaching materials, providing teacher training and building effective regional

19 Jan 2016

NewTechKids to discuss Mindset

By NewTechKids

Join Deborah Carter, NewTechKids' Co-founder, and Kitty Leering, one of NewTechKids' advisors, for a discussion of two important books: Carol Dweck's "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World". Deborah will discuss the power of one's mindset, especially if it's a growth mindset. She'll discuss mindset in the context of NewTechKids technology education programs for primary school children and teacher training programs. The event is free. We'd love to hear your ideas

13 Jan 2016

NewTechKids in PrimaOnderwijs Magazine

By NewTechKids

NewTechKids is happy to be featured in the January edition of PrimaOnderwijs, one of the Netherlands's leading magazines on education trends servicing school directors and teachers. The feature article focuses on our teacher training programs and how we prepare teachers to teach computer science, programming and technological literacy in the context of 21st century skills development: problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication. The article outlines NewTechKids' pedagogy, teaching approaches, classroom management strategies and our use

14 Dec 2015

New Advisor

By NewTechKids

Dimitris Stafylarakis Joins NewTechKids as an Advisor We are pleased as punch to announce that Dimitris Stafylarakis has joined NewTechKids' team of advisors. Read his bio. Dimitris is a DevOps Engineer at Quby, an Amsterdam-based company focused on smart home energy management. He is collaborating with NewTechKids to help us identify key concepts to integrate into our curricula and lessons as well best practices in the technology industry which can be translated into learning experience for children. He has

11 Dec 2015

Report: EU Code Week Teacher Training

By NewTechKids

NewTechKids is proud to share our report of the EU Code Week 2015 teacher training pilot program we organised in September and October 2015. We partnered with TomTom, the Dutch technology company, to launch a pilot program aimed at creating a scaling model for technology education in primary schools. Specifically, this model engaged both primary school teachers and students around computational thinking and coding. NewTechKids trained 75 primary school teachers from schools in Amsterdam and

16 Oct 2015

Museums: A New Frontier for Tech Education

By NewTechKids

(Image from"Keith Haring: The Political line" exhibition at Kunsthal Rotterdam) This week, I stepped on stage and gave a presentation which required more out-of-the-box thinking than I've had to do in a while. I was invited by the Rijksmuseum to give a talk at the Hands On! Conference organised by the International Association of Children in Museums. More than 350 participants from museums around the world converged in Amsterdam to learn about the latest trends and see firsthand