New Tech Kids | computational thinking

13 May 2017

NewTechKids Returns to United Arab Emirates

NewTechKids has recently returned from the United Arab Emirates where our teachers (and one child assistant) taught computer science bootcamps during the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival (April 19-29, 2017). Everyday, we taught children ages 7-12 about systems thinking (computers, their main parts and how these parts work together) and technology design (function, requirements and user interface). The children who attended were very enthusiastic and engaged. The United Arab Emirates is a fascinating country, with innovation and technology everywhere, from

3 Apr 2017

Bringing Themes and Tech Literacy to Computer Science Ed

By NewTechKids

The way that computer science education is promoted to primary school-aged children can make all the difference. NewTechKids learned this lesson during our latest round of after-school computer science bootcamps which ran from January - March 2017. Previously, we had marketed our bootcamps as 'Discover Computer Science' or 'Explore Computer Science' and listed all of the wonderful computer science concepts that children would learn about: loops, algorithms, if-else statements, sequences, Boolean data, etc. This may have been great marketing to reassure parents

4 Apr 2017

NewTechKids Joins CSTA’s International Committee

By NewTechKids

The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) has invited NewTechKids to serve on its International Committee. Deborah Carter, NewTechKids’ Co-founder, has become one of the Committee's members and will contribute to CSTA’s global strategy, specifically international membership growth, diversity issues and information exchange. CSTA is a membership organization which supports and promotes the teaching of computer science from kindergarten to grade 12. CSTA represents more than 25,000 members from more than 145 countries. Its members include elementary,

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

2 Apr 2017

NewTechKids teaching youngest primary school students

By NewTechKids

NewTechKids is pleased to announce that we will be working closely with a bilingual Dutch primary school in Utrecht to integrate computational thinking, computer science and technological literacy into its school curriculum. NewTechKids will teach a 10-week program for students ages five and six at KSU Onder de Bogen, a new school in Utrecht which offers instruction in both Dutch and English. Our program will run from April until June 2017, with weekly lessons. Students

13 Mar 2017

NewTechKids at Wittenborg University

By NewTechKids

Last week, NewTechKids became the subject of Wittenberg University's Project Week in Amsterdam. For five days, business students dove into NewTechKids' business model and selected a country where we could expand our business: curriculum, lesson plans and teacher training programs. (We discounted the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Finland, Australia and New Zealand as these countries already have thriving computer science education in place.) Their challenge: select a country, prove that computational thinking and computer

8 Feb 2017

Computational Thinking in EU School Curricula

By NewTechKids

In December 2016, the European Union published the report “Developing Computational Thinking in Compulsory Education: Implications for policy and practice”. Click here for a definition of computational thinking and how it helps students solve problems, understand the world around them and become inventors. The report is useful to compare the EU's action to other places such as the United States which launched the 'Computer Science for All' initiative which will bring computer science education to all students in America, beginning in primary school.

7 Feb 2017

From Coding to Computational Thinking

By NewTechKids

We hear a lot of reasons why parents register their children for our computer science bootcamps. These range from: - my kid knows how to use a computer and smartphone but they should learn how technology works - my kid wants to learn to code - I want to boost my kids’ academic performance - I work in technology and I realise the importance of having some exposure to computer science - I need a way

Girl Power!

By NewTechKids

Today, NewTechKids welcomed a brave little girl to our latest after-school bootcamp. Before she arrived, a large group of boys ranging from seven to nine bounded into the class, swapping stories about building LEGO, playing football and the mutual friends they all knew. When she peeked into the class, she realised that she was the only girl in a sea of boys. Our assistant teacher, who is female, tried to reassure her but the girl begged her mother to sit at

15 Oct 2016

Watch out, Silicon Valley. South Korea is coming!

By NewTechKids

In early October, I was in South Korea to speak at the International Symposium of Science Museums. My subject: NewTechKids and our approach to teaching computer science and computational thinking skills to primary school-aged children. I joined representatives from some of the world's leading science museums, including the Smithsonian, the Getty Museum, Science Center Singapore and the National Science Museum of Korea. We discussed the social responsibility of science museums and the important role that