NewTechKids will offer two 2020 Christmas holiday bootcamps from December 21 - 31, 2020. Before Christmas Bootcamp: December 21-24, 2020 Bootcamp between Christmas and New Year's: December 28 - 31, 2020 Part of the City of Amsterdam's Mid-Winter Mokum event series, these two bootcamps are subsidized  by Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (OBA) and are being offered free-of-charge to all children who have an OBA Junior library pass. For kids who don't have the pass, the fee

Read more

While some formal education is an important aspect of preparing for future careers, it’s not the path for everyone. Many people working in the tech industry and creating/producing/making with tech tools are self-taught, relying on books, online resources, YouTube tutorial, free software, coding forums, and hands-on experience. Shaquille Veldboom, a young black man who grew up in Amsterdam Southeast, a low-income, predominantly black community, was the recent subject of a PreparationTech interview. At the age

Read more

How do you prepare kids and adults for our world of constant and rapid technological innovation? What education, training and exposure to technology do they need to survive and thrive? Deborah Carter, NewTechKids' Founder, will be moderating a panel discussion on this topic during the Women in Tech Regatta Amsterdam virtual event on December 9, 2020. The panel will explore the many different ways that kids can learn about technology, from formal schooling to storytelling,

Read more

Another great resource for teaching technology literacy to children is the 'Zerus and Ona: Adventures in the Binary World' book series developed by Miriam Tocino. Miriam is a software developer, coding teacher, illustrator and author based in Amsterdam. The inspiration for her book series came three years ago when she had her son and started thinking about how to introduce him to the world of computers.  She uses characters called Zerus and Ona which are based on binary 0s and

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

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a massive shift to online learning. The NewTechKids team is joining the wave of educators who are developing new and dynamic ways to teach children online about technological innovation, computer science, programming and robotics. This summer, we'll be offering four, Zoom-based robotics courses for kids ages 8-12 under the theme "Tech Inventors to the Rescue". Kids from different countries with little to no previous experience in building and coding will

Read more

Being able to think deeply and critically about technology and its implications is becoming as important as understanding computer science and knowing how to code. This is because the technology we currently have is directly related to the perspectives, values and even biases of the technologists who create it. To help kids develop critical thinking skills, NewTechKids is developing new lessons and teaching resources which help primary school-aged kids explore the ethics of technology. Our

Read more

Do you know a kid who is crazy about the giant animated robots at theme parks? Or who is  fascinated by cyborgs and human-like robots? Studying robotics can lead to a career in many areas, including but not limited to animatronics, engineering, design, game design, medicine and education. Sculpture, animation, cognitive science, material science, computer science, AI and programming are just some of the fields which intersect with robotics. David Hanson, CEO of Hanson Robotics,

Read more

For kids and teens who love the performing arts, computer science, programming and design combined with digital skills can take them in many interesting directions. Case in point: Miral Kotb, Founder of iLuminate, a light dance and technology company. iLuminate came in third on 'America's Got Talent', has worked with artists including Chris Brown, the Black Eyed Peas and Christina Aguilera, and is launching a Vegas show. Miral is also a study in perseverance and resilience as

Read more

  https://vimeo.com/408410161 JP van Seventer is passionate about all things related to online gaming. JP is Co-founder and Managing Director of Dutch Game Garden, a game incubator and business centre for small gaming companies and independent game designers located in Utrecht, the Netherlands. In this interview, JP talks about his own experience in game development. He also shares his thoughts on: the kind of people who thrive in the gaming industry and their knowledge, skills, characteristics and

Read more