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
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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
Read moreThis December, NewTechKids added Arduino as a new teaching tool during our 'Discover Computer Science' bootcamp for 10-12 year olds. Kids received multiple lessons as an introduction to Arduino. With its open source platform and active community of developers, Arduino is a great teaching tool. Kids received a basic introduction to programming in JavaScript but that's not the main reason we are teaching Arduino. Arduino offers another learning environment where kids can identify and creatively apply the fundamental computer science concepts
Read moreNewTechKids recently taught computer science workshops to children in the United Arab Emirates during the Sharjah International Book Fair (November 2 - 12, 2016). The Book Fair is one of the largest in the Middle East, with thousands of participants including children from local and private schools. It was an honour to be selected as the only company providing technology-themed workshops covering topics such as algorithmic thinking, programming, binary systems, and design and rapid prototyping. (We wondered why almost all of
Read moreNewTechKids is one of the partners chosen for the City of Amsterdam’s ‘Coding for Amsterdam’ project which will bring coding lessons to students in groups seven and eight in Amsterdam primary schools. From September – December 2016, NewTechKids is teaching unplugged coding lessons (involving no computers or technology) at Dutch and international schools. The project’s goal is to reach students in 200 schools. On October 28th, NewTechKids will teach a special ‘Coding for Amsterdam’ lesson
Read moreIn 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 they can play in terms
Read moreNewTechKids 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, will be
Read moreThere are few things as wonderful as impacting a child's interests and learning. Even in a small way. This week, NewTechKids received some great news. One of our very first students was accepted into the Metis Montessori Lyceum, the first high school in the Netherlands to offer an intensive programming stream for 12 year olds starting in Fall 2016. Students in this stream will receive five hours of schooling in programming, robotics, computers, game and app development, and
Read moreNewTechKids is super happy to announce that Linda Liukas, author of the wildly-popular coding book for children called 'Hello Ruby', has joined our advisory board. Linda is a Finnish computer programmer, children’s book writer and programming instructor. In 2014, 'Hello Ruby' raised $380,000 on Kickstarter, becoming the platform’s most highly- funded children’s book. Her book is the world’s most whimsical way to learn about technology, computing and coding. Linda co-founded Rails Girls, a site designed to help women learn basic
Read moreNewTechKids believes that it's important to find new ways to teach computer science which bring out the creativity in children. That's why we love to integrate arts education into our computer science programs. We were super thrilled to teach two teacher training workshops today as part of the cultural education event organised by MOCCA, an education advisory organization based in Amsterdam. During the workshops held at Theater Meervaart, we taught our 'Intro to Coding and Computational Thinking'
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