NewTechKids To Test New AI Literacy Curriculum and Lessons For the past 11 years, NewTechKids has been breaking barriers in tech education. We are continuing our track record with a new pilot program during which we will test a new AI literacy curriculum for senior primary school students at four Amsterdam primary schools. The pilot program has been commissioned by the Municipality of Amsterdam and will run until the end of December 2026. During the
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It's time for the education system to make a choice: continue to ignore the importance of teaching kids and teens how to navigate technological innovation OR try to prepare them for constant and rapid technological innovation. Nowhere is this now more critical than when it comes to AI. Fail to teach kids to understand how it works, form ethical behavior around it and use it responsibly and schools will undo a lot of the benefits
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For the first time in our history, the bulk of our clients are primary schools! And this is a good thing. Schools are waking up to the fact that a good education which prepares kids for the future includes basic computer science (and computational thinking) and digital literacy to foster critical thinking skills about technology and its influence on our lives. NewTechKids is teaching tech programs during school hours and as after-school programs on site.
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It's hard to believe but we're 10 years old! From our scrappy beginnings in Fall 2014 teaching in a co-working space, we've taught thousands of primary, middle and high school kids in Amsterdam, other Dutch cities and in places like Dubai and Switzerland about computer science and digital literacy. We've also trained hundreds of primary school teachers on how to introduce technology education in their classrooms. Our very first students are now finishing high school
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This past week, NewTechKids taught a class about interactivity. Students created interactive systems using the Makey Makey learning tool. This meant that the students had Internet access and had to navigate to Makey Makey's Web site to access the coding apps. Unfortunately, one student figured out a way to play games without coding the Makey Makey microcomputer. We observed a physical shift in him during which he went from being immersed in the Makey Makey
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Do you know of any schools or after-school clubs in the Amsterdam area looking to integrate technology lessons during the 2024-2025 school year? If so, NewTechKids has time slots open for Fall 2024. NewTechKids is expanding the number of classes it teaches in Amsterdam during the 2024-2025 school year. Our teaching team is available to teach during school hours (our preference) or after school. We can teach children ages 4-12 in Dutch, English or a
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Next week, NewTechKids will begin our second year of teaching digital literacy programs at Wereldwijs primary school in Amsterdam Southeast. We learned a lot from teaching all 650 students in groups 1-8 (ages 4-12 on average). We taught the youngest students in Dutch and the older students in a combination of Dutch and English. Here are some of our takeaways: Our youngest students are using apps which should not be legally available to them. Students
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NewTechKids is featured in a recently-published guide to teaching students about the ethics of technology. The book, "Ethics in A Digital World: Guiding Students Through Society's Biggest Questions", was written by Kristen Mattson and published by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). We contributed a case study describing how we integrate critical thinking about technology in our curriclulum. Specifically, we co-developed a six-lesson curriculum module for students ages 8-12 called "Thinking about the
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Like computer science and programming, math is a polarizing subject. People either like it or they don't. At least that's what most people think. Thankfully, people like Dr. Jo Boaler, a professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University, is busy challenging kids and teachers who don't like math to view it differently. Jo and her team at YouCubed, a non-profit startup, are busy transforming math education by developing new math teaching methods, lessons and teaching resources
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Next month, NewTechKids will head to the United Arab Emirates to teach a week-long series of computer science workshops for primary school students. We'll be teaching kids ages 4-12 during the 2019 Sharjah Children's Reading Festival, an annual mega-event dedicated to learning, reading and discovery. Themes will include algorithms and algorithmic thinking, computer and programming logic, and rapid prototyping and best practises in the field of technology design. Students will come from a mix of
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