Code snap

CoderDojo has become something of a phenomenon, targeting children aged seven to 17, of all abilities, who want to learn to code. It has spread to 23 countries, and about 17,000 children have taken part.

“It came out of something – there was passion in solving a local issue, not looking at it on a grander scale, but doing it right and for the right reasons,” says cofounder James Whelton. “Then it started morphing into this bigger movement and started spreading like crazy.”

Whelton says the group was set up with young people in mind. “I remember what it was like growing up and not having that outlet. There was a lot of other people I knew who were in a similar situation. We knew the problem as young people. Since then, we’ve grown up, we’ve taught ourselves and had the trials and tribulations. We were able to retrospectively look back at what we would have wanted.”

The CoderDojo ethos is based on martial arts, with a “belt” system for participants that allows them to earn their colours. Belts can be earned in several ways, including taking part in its Coolest Awards ceremony, which caters for all levels and abilities. The children involved get a chance to present their projects, and there’s a competitive edge to it too.

There isn’t a typical profile for a CoderDojo participant. The children come from all sorts of backgrounds, with all levels of abilities and interests. “It’s not necessarily always the geniuses that are involved in CoderDojo. That’s great to see, because I wouldn’t consider myself a genius, but I’ve carved an amazing career within IT,” says Noel King, a senior developer with Paddy Power who has been a mentor for CoderDojo since the movement launched, in Dublin, in August 2011.

The clubs are mixed-gender, and CoderDojo has made a concerted effort to encourage more female participation, both in terms of participation and mentoring.

CoderDojo Girls is specifically aimed at sparking some interest from girls. King and Niambh Scullion, a fellow mentor at DCU, took the step after noticing a higher drop-out rate among girls. “It’s all aimed at nurturing a passion for coding that could help build a future for these children,” says King. “I think a lot of the kids who come through CoderDojo are going to be leading the Irish tech scene in the future.

“We focus quite heavily on the creative side, so kids are constantly being pushed to take what they’re learning and push their imagination and join it to what they’ve learned in tech.” King believes it could even lead to a new tech bubble in the future.

Leadership
Shane Curran was 12 when he unveiled Libramatic and made himself Ireland's youngest chief executive. Libramatic specialises in smartphone- and web- based library systems, and Curran is a frequent participant in CoderDojo, passing on some of his skills.

But it’s not just about sewing the seeds for building a skilled workforce for the future. CoderDojo is about fostering a love for coding in a fun environment, encouraging children to use their imaginations and their new skills and giving them the confidence to give a little back, maybe through becoming mentors themselves.

“One of the reasons I think CoderDojo is going to be so effective is the way that it is taught; the ethos behind it, the morals behind it, are very different to mainstream,” says King. “The kids realise that they’ve gained a lot of knowledge, and that knowledge can be given back, which brings additional leadership.”

While CoderDojo is growing in popularity among its target age group, the movement can’t succeed without these volunteers and mentors. It is an ongoing task, although Whelton says it varies from area to area. “In some cases, in the early days, you might have more mentors volunteering than participants who wanted to come along, but other times, there’s such a demand that clubs are being booked out in under a minute, making it temporarily more popular than One Direction,” he says.

“In areas where there hasn’t been the technical talent, but parents and people in the community want to set up a CoderDojo, they’ll do basics with the kids and then bring in guest people to come in and show them new things.”

Mentors get just as much out of the CoderDojo involvement as the children, King says. “Seeing that level of excitement around tech is so inspirational for mentors that we’re probably getting as much out of it as the kids. We come away from it feeling a bit more excited about tech.” See coderdojo.com