New Tech Kids | computational thinking

3 Nov 2017

Tips for raising successful technologists: girls

Like most technology education academies, NewTechKids struggles to attract equal numbers of girls and boys to our programs. There are a lot of reasons for this. Most of the time, parents don't even present computer science and programming activities as options for their daughters. They conclude that computer science 'isn’t a fit' for their daughters although it's often 'perfect' for their sons. Girls themselves have told us that learning about technology is hard and often

2 Nov 2017

FREE Teacher Training Program: Computer Science for Primary School Teachers (5 sessions)

By NewTechKids

Calling all trailblazer teachers! Do you want to join a community of primary school teachers from Dutch and international primary schools who will be among the first in the Netherlands to introduce computer science and computational thinking lessons in their schools? Stichting NewTechKids (NewTechKids' non-profit counterpart) is offering a select group of teachers the opportunity to attend a FREE teacher training program. (Normal price: 2000 euro plus 21% BTW per teacher.) Designed for teachers who

6 Oct 2017

NewTechKids Partnering with OBA/Maakplaats 021

By NewTechKids

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

27 Sep 2017

Tips for Raising Technologists: choosing learning activities

By NewTechKids

Education 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

4 Sep 2017

Bring NewTechKids to your school in Amsterdam

By NewTechKids

NewTechKids 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

4 Sep 2017

5 Tips: How to raise successful technologists

By NewTechKids

This 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

1 Sep 2017

New Times Require New Teaching Approaches

By NewTechKids

This 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:

3 Sep 2017

Fall 2017 activities

By NewTechKids

NewTechKids 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

14 May 2017

NewTechKids collaborating on DigiLeerKracht initiative

By NewTechKids

NewTechKids 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

16 May 2017

The Case for Specialist Computer Science Teachers

By NewTechKids

In our quest to introduce computer science and technological literacy education in primary school, we often hear the same excuse as to why this is difficult to impossible: teachers already have enough on their plate. Introducing a new subject will overwhelm them, causing their overall teaching to decline in quality. So many countries find themselves in the same position: we know that we need to prepare children to function in a world filled with technology