This year, NewTechKids kicked off a series of computer science summer school programs with a program focused on teaching kids ages seven to 12 about systems thinking and technological systems. Technology systems are all around us: from the smart energy systems we use to cool our homes to the traffic lights we obey, the self check-out counters we use at grocery stores and the PS4 systems on which kids spend time playing. Yet, we take
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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
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NewTechKids is pleased to announce that we have established a new 21st Century Skills Club at Nelson Mandela School in Amsterdam East. We're teaching computer science to kids in the school's AMOS UnIQ program for gifted children for the 2016-2017 school year. Our Club will cover computational thinking, algorithmic thinking, programming, systems thinking and technological literacy. We look forward to exposing kids to a new way of thinking that they can use to understand how and why technology works and to start
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Last week, we engaged our students in some serious challenge-based learning in order to understand systems thinking and how computers are embedded into all kinds of systems. We challenged the 7-12 year old kids in our 'Computers and How They Work' summer bootcamp to work in teams to design and program a smart energy system which could respond to different temperatures and activate a heating system when the room temperature dropped. In the process, they learned about conditionals and if-else statements.
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NewTechKids is on a mission to bring technology education to all children, including those who belong to families with low incomes who would not normally receive it. Kids with potential are everywhere and our goal is to find and nurture them. In September 2016, we will teach pilot programs developed by Stichting NewTechKids which establishes new computer science clubs for primary school aged students in two of Amsterdam's most economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods: Amsterdam South East and Amsterdam New
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NewTechKids is heading to South Korea in early October to give a talk at the International Symposium of Science Museums 2016. Organised by the National Science Museum of Korea, the event focuses on sharing creative and inspiring ideas from around the world which aim to develop better science museums and centers in the future, engage the public in diverse themes of science and technology, and facilitate STEM activities in informal settings. Deborah Carter, one of our co-founders,
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While children should rest and have fun during the summer, it's also important to keep them engaged in learning while they are out of school. NewTechKids has developed a series of bootcamps for children ages 7-9 and 10-12 years which will expose them to computer science education in a fun, interactive way while helping them strengthen their thinking, problem-solving and collaboration skills. The bootcamps will take place at Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (OBA)/Amsterdam Municipal Library, Oosterdokskade 143, Amsterdam
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NewTechKids is organizing a special five-week teacher training pilot program which will prepare primary school teachers to introduce computer science and coding concepts to students in groups 1-8 (ages 4-12). The program will be taught in the context of 21st century skills related to critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, creativity and collaboration. The program takes place from May 11 - June 8, 2016 in Amsterdam. NewTechKids is partnering with the Amsterdam Municipal Library (Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam) to host the
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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
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(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
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