CoderDojo at Mary Immaculate College is back for spring 2019. These free sessions will run every Wednesday from February 27 - March 20 (6:30pm – 7:30 pm) for children aged 7-12 years who are new to coding.
For the past two years CoderDojo at MIC has been hugely successful with up to fifty children learning how to code with their parents and students. The sessions involve children learning how to code as they create interactive games, stories and animations using Scratch - a block based visual programming language used by millions of children around the world.
Similar to previous years both undergraduate and postgraduate students from MIC will act as ‘Dojo’ mentors. Every week a new fun interactive coding challenge and project will be posed to the children, parents and MIC students. For example creating a virtual pet, writing an interactive story and animating characters. The children will also explore the application of coding in robotics and gain first-hand experience of programming VEX IQ Robots during sessions with representatives from DELL EMC Limerick.
Over 90 MIC students have volunteered this year to guide the CoderDojo attendees (Ninjas), facilitating their learning and providing support in completing their weekly challenges. The sessions will include the development of key literacy and numeracy skills for example sequencing, variables, team work and communication skills as well as higher-order thinking, creativity and problem solving skills.
Dr Maeve Liston, Director of Enterprise and Community Engagement at MIC said "Mary Immaculate College is committed to promoting STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) among young people, teachers, their parents and the general public through a wide range of educational outreach events and workshops organised throughout the year in collaboration with key stakeholders and industries in the region. For example the Vex Robotics and Lego Robotics programmes in schools around Limerick, Tipperary and Clare, the Limerick Festival of Science and Tipperary Festival of Science, Engineers Week, Maths Week and Space Week activities and STEAM Professional Development for teachers across the region".
Dr Liston added ‘These coding sessions with our students and children have two very significant objectives, to develop key IT skills, computational thinking, logic and critical thinking skills in our future generations and also to develop digital literacy skills in our future teachers to integrate STEAM effectively right across the curriculum’
If you think this is something your child would like to try out please click here to book your child into this free 5 week course. Spaces are limited and booking up fast. For any other queries please contact maeve.liston@mic.ul.ie.
The Coder Dojo programme at MIC is kindly supported by the DELL EMC, Irish American Partnership & Coder Dojo Mid West.
