Today, NewTechKids kicked off a week of classes for kids ages 8-12 which will encourage students to think critically about how technology can be used to screen and monitor the Coronavirus and help people who contract it. We started with a class this afternoon at an Amsterdam primary school where we teach a weekly computer science program for kids ages 10-12. We began with students talking about the symptoms of the Coronavirus and ways to
Read more
NewTechKids spent the day in beautiful Haarlem, teaching students at the Beatrixschool. Our challenge: teaching students in two classes about programming in the context of automation with LEGO Mindstorms robots. One class developed appliances aimed at reducing the workload of families while the other reimagined robots who could take over monotonous or dangerous farm work. While one-off classes aren't our preferences, these classes serve an important purpose. They allow us to teach kids who have
Read more
NewTechKids is teaching a free-of-charge, 10-week computer science bootcamp at OBA Slotermeer in Amsterdam from May 6 - July 1, 2019. The bootcamp is open to kids ages 8-12 and will be taught in a combination of Dutch and English by a professional teacher with specialised computer science training. Every Monday from 15:30 - 17:30, kids will explore computer science through lively class discussions and team-based activities which involve designing, building and programming a series of
Read more
Next month, NewTechKids will head to the United Arab Emirates to teach a week-long series of computer science workshops for primary school students. We'll be teaching kids ages 4-12 during the 2019 Sharjah Children's Reading Festival, an annual mega-event dedicated to learning, reading and discovery. Themes will include algorithms and algorithmic thinking, computer and programming logic, and rapid prototyping and best practises in the field of technology design. Students will come from a mix of
Read more
Super excited to welcome Carol Yarbrough as NewTechKids' latest teacher advisor. A high school computer science teacher, Carol is currently Computer Science Content Director at A+ College Ready in Alabama. She is also a College Board consultant who organises professional development for AP teachers through workshops and AP Summer Institutes. Before all this, she taught at the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham for 11 years. Carol graduated with a degree in Computational Mathematics
Read more
Register for the conference here. NewTechKids is pleased to continue our long-term partnership with the Amsterdam Public Library and Maakplaats 021 by becoming a programming partner for its upcoming 'Brave New Learning' conference which takes place in February 2019. We'll be teaching a workshop for educators focused on creative ways to introduce digital technology education to primary school students. We'll share our pedagogical framework, teaching approaches and observations from teaching children, including girls, minorities and
Read more
Super happy to announce our newest NewTechKids advisor: Phil Rynearson (aka Mr. Phil). Phil is a technology teacher in Early Childhood Education at the American School of The Hague in the Netherlands. He gained valuable experience as a classroom teacher for 17 years before devoting the last eight years to supporting students and teachers in finding authentic and empowering methods of integrating technology into school settings. He has worked in public schools in the United States
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
NewTechKids is proud to announce that our non-profit arm, Stichting NewTechKids (NewTechKids Foundation), has launched a new online teacher training platform for primary school teachers around the world who want to introduce computer science, technological literacy and computational thinking to students ages 4-12. Share to Teach, the online platform, has been developed by Stichting NewTechKids' team of computer science education specialists, teachers and innovation experts especially for teachers. The platform offers a variety of online training
Read more
Last week, I had the privilege of giving one of the keynote talks at IPON 2018. IPON is the Netherlands’ leading conference/trade show devoted to innovation in education and ICT applications and services. The event showcases teaching methods, learning materials and tools, hardware and software. During my talk, I renewed my call for computer science to become a mandatory subject, starting in primary school and continuing through secondary school. Here are some of my thoughts
Read more