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
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Tomorrow, EU Code Week 2017 kicks off! From October 7-22, organisations across Europe will be organising activities which bring coding and digital literacy to children and adults. Many are free so please get involved! See the EU Code Week 2017 Events Calendar for activities taking place across Europe. Another great source of coding-related activities is Codestarter, a joint venture between Google Netherlands and NEMO Science Center, which provides a list covering the entire Netherlands. Every
Read moreEducation 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
Read moreThis 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
Read moreNewTechKids 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
Read moreNewTechKids hosted a teacher training workshop on June 6th, 2017 as part of the 'Learning Fair' event organised by Projectenbureau Primair Onderwijs Zuidoost (PPOZO). Projectenbureau Primair Onderwijs Zuidoost (PPOZO) is the organization which coordinates after-school activities for primary schLearnool students in Amsterdam Southeast, one of the city's most economically-disadvantaged communities. It works with 10 school boards representing 29 schools in the area and 7017 students. Scrum: an important teaching tool to help students develop 21st century skills Scrum
Read moreIn 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
Read moreNewTechKids 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
Read moreNewTechKids 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
Read moreToday, 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
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