We often tell our students that technology, whether devices or software, wasn't invented in a day. The phone, TV or gaming console that they use was developed over years by multiple people and is still being improved upon now. All invention processes start with protototyping. Inventors create a quick and dirty object and then test and refine it. There's often a lot of failure involved and inventors need to develop resilience to keep trying and
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Being able to learn constantly and apply knowledge and skills throughout one's life will be the key to achieving success in the 21st century. It also reflects a mindset which needs to be nurtured from a young age, especially for future innovators. But how do you get to this point. Turns out that there are tried and true effective learning and studying techniques which are backed by science. Unfortunately, most people aren't using them. Which
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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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(Informatie in het Nederlands.) EU Code Week 2015 will take place from 10-18 October. Code Week was launched as a way to encourage children and adults in the European Union to discover programming and learn to code. NewTechKids is pleased to partner with TomTom, a Dutch technology company, to provide primary school teachers in Amsterdam and other locations in the Netherlands with special training to teach an ‘Introduction to Coding’ lesson to children in groups
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This afternoon's NewTechKids workshop brought the concept of programming to a group of 10-12 year olds in the best way possible. The workshop started with a lively discussion about robots and their different uses before moving on to a design and testing exercise during which the kids wrote programs (with pen and paper) to navigate through an obstacle course. In the process, they learned about technology concepts such as programming, automation, input-output, variables and composition.
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