CoderDojoVolunteer

23 July 2021 · by Nuala McHale

Ten years ago today, on 23 July 2011, the first CoderDojo session was held in Cork, Ireland by teenager James Whelton and entrepreneur Bill Liao. From that first session, CoderDojo clubs sprung up across Ireland, and then spread globally to more than 100 countries over the last decade. During this time, dedicated volunteers have run thousands of CoderDojo sessions across the world, making the CoderDojo movement a global phenomenon.  Well done to all involved! Over the years, you’ve had a huge impact in your local area, and we thank you for your contributions as part of… Read More

11 June 2021 · by Nuala McHale

To support CoderDojos running online, we regularly conduct safeguarding visits to online sessions. This enables us to see how Dojos are running and provide any additional guidance to volunteers.  So far in 2021, we’ve visited online sessions hosted in Colombia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, India, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Spain, the UK and the USA. Below are the key things we learned about the ways Dojos are operating during this time. Scratch demonstration during an online Dojo. Image credit: Alessandra Bilardi, @abilardi (Twitter) Some initial stats Of the Dojos we… Read More

8 March 2021 · by Vanessa Greene

Nikole Vaughn is the champion of CoderDojo Collaborative, a Dojo which has been running for several years in San Antonio, Texas. We previously wrote about how Nikole is inspiring the next generation of female coders. We caught up with her last month to hear how her Dojo has adapted over the last year. Nikole told us about how she is currently running the Dojo online, projects her Ninjas have worked on, challenges she has faced, and what she values most about being part of the CoderDojo community. Read on to find out what… Read More

11 December 2020 · by Amy O'Meara

What a year it has been. Despite significant challenges caused by the pandemic, we have joined together as a community and have learnt to adapt, connect, grow, and share our experiences in brand new ways.  We are incredibly proud of everyone in our community for your positivity, resilience, and commitment to safety this year. Whatever stage you and your Dojo are at, we would like to thank you for your efforts — however big or small.  Looking back on the year Our poll in September revealed that 35% of Dojos are… Read More

3 December 2020 · by Amy O'Meara

In November and December, we will be sharing tips about different aspects of running online coding sessions, and hearing the experience of club leaders who are running their clubs online. Many of us will be familiar with the hustle and bustle of an in-person coding session: excited young people asking questions, volunteers moving about the room, sound effects from various projects — the list goes on!  Things may feel quite different in an online session. Participants will usually have their microphones muted and there will inevitably be periods of silence while they work on their… Read More

2 October 2020 · by Amy O'Meara

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been listening carefully to you — our incredible community — and delivering training webinars based on your needs.  In these webinars, we have been sharing how you can support young people while your Dojo is running online. However, the training can also be applied at in-person sessions. We hope that these videos will give you the confidence to continue learning with your Ninjas — whether you are running your sessions online, in person, or a mixture of the two!. Below are a selection of snippets from… Read More