7 Online courses to develop your mentor skills in 2019

It’s that time of year when many Dojos are returning back after the new year. To help you get back into the swing of things we’re highlighting some of the awesome free online courses you and your mentors can take part in to upskill in in 2019!

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. – Henry Ford

 

Our FutureLearn courses

Starting a CoderDojo

First up is our Starting a CoderDojo club course. This free three-week course is not just for people starting out – anyone interested in learning more about managing a club, seeing best practices and gaining more confidence in teaching young people will benefit. So it’s really useful even if you’re already running a club!

Programming 101: An Introduction to Python for Educators

This term some of your more experienced attendees may be looking to move on from Scratch to a text-based programming language. Keep one step ahead by exploring the basics of Python in this free course designed for educators like yourself.

During the course you will learn basic programming concepts such as repetition and sequencing. You will understand when and how to use a ‘for’ loop, an ‘if’ statement, a ‘while’ loop, and functions. You’ll learn the basics of Python syntax, how to interpret error messages and create your own program to solve a simple problem

Teaching Physical Computing with Raspberry Pi and Python

Want to introduce hardware into your Dojo this term? This free course will show you how to  create simple systems that respond to and control the physical world using the Raspberry Pi and Python. There will be an introduction to the Raspberry Pi computer and how to set it up.

You will discover how simple circuits work, how to connect an LED to your Raspberry Pi, and how to switch your LED on and off using Python code to create light sequences. Participants will understand different kinds of input devices that can be used to sense the real world. You will also apply your new knowledge about physical computing to create a digital making project.

Scratch to Python: Moving from Block- to Text-based Programming

This course will help you learn how to apply the thinking and programming skills you’ve learnt in Scratch to text-based programming languages like Python. You will cover programming and thinking skills in Scratch. You’ll learn some basic skills in Python programming language and how to debug code. You will also access tools to support children’s transition from block-based to text-based programming. This course is currently being updated with the launch of Scratch 3.0, but you can sign up to be notified of the next run here.

 

See all our available FutureLearn courses.

 

E-learning modules

On our community platform Zen, we have three e-learning modules available to help volunteers and mentors learn about mentoring and our ethos. Upon completion of each module, you will receive a digital badge on your profile page. 

How do you take the modules?

Log in or register on our Community Platform. You can find the E-Learning module button on your profile menu.

CoderDojo Ethos

The CoderDojo Ethos module is great to learn about what the core principles of CoderDojo are and how to put them into practice. It gives learners an insight in best practices for setting up and running a Dojo to encourage key principles such as youth-led learning, and peer mentoring.

 

CoderDojo Mentoring

We recommend that all new CoderDojo volunteers take this free, online e-learning module in order to better understand what volunteering at a Dojo is like. This module is equally relevant for mentors with or without a technical background. It should take around 20 minutes to complete.

Once you’ve completed it, you will:

• Understand what mentoring means at a Dojo
• Know what’s needed to be a good mentor
• Have an awareness of some of the different mentoring styles you can use
• Know what resources are available to help mentors

Safeguarding Young People in CoderDojo

This module will tell you about the key things regarding child safeguarding, and most importantly, it will ensure you know how to create a safe Dojo environment for your Ninjas. The module should take around 20 minutes to complete.

An updated version of this module is now available from the Raspberry Pi Foundation – of which CoderDojo is part of. You can avail of the new version of the course here. Learn more about our safeguarding policy and how to report safeguarding concerns.