Dojo Resources: Freeing up your time

As many of you will be planning your Dojos for the coming year around now, we’ve decided to point out a few things that can make your lives a lot easier, as part of out #BackToDojo series!

Here Philip, our Content Lead explains how using CoderDojo resources can free up your time:

When I first planned my own Dojo, I found myself writing original material for everything, not sure whether I could use certain online tutorials or whether they’d be appropriate for the kids at my Dojo. It usually took me longer to prepare for a Dojo than to actually run it!

The thing is, I didn’t need to put in all that effort. I could have saved that energy for actually running my Dojo: Even back in 2013, the CoderDojo community was sharing resources on the CoderDojo website.

“Today there’s a bigger selection of resources and it’s even easier to find what you’re looking for”

We’ve recorded a video below walking through how to find material in the resources section of the website. We’ve organised the material into Paths, which offer a structured route through a topic: You’ll see there are core resources that have usually been tried and tested at many Dojos, as well as supplementary resources that can be used once Ninjas have completed the core material, or if you just don’t like the core approach. Paths recommend badges you can award to Ninjas who get through the core material, as well as where to go once you’ve completed them.

If your Dojo is new, or you have Ninjas who are just starting off, I’d recommend picking either the Scratch or HTML paths, as they’re great for seeing immediate and visual results.

In the next two months we will be releasing a new tool that will make creating standardised content in your own language really easy, so watch out for that!

Good luck with your planning for 2017, and enjoy the next year of Dojos!

You can get more #BackToDojo resources and advice here.