{"id":16520,"date":"2019-07-04T09:54:58","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T07:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/?p=16520"},"modified":"2024-03-22T11:01:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T10:01:30","slug":"kids-coding-club-cambridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/kids-coding-club-cambridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Use your coding superpowers for good"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hannah Currant is a PhD student at EMBL-EBI<\/a>. She recently received the Early Career Public Engagement Prize on the Wellcome Genome Campus<\/a>. The award recognised the work Hannah has done to set up the first CoderDojo in Cambridge, UK \u2013 a place where young people can gather to learn code and break stereotypes.<\/p>\n

What do you do at EMBL-EBI?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m a PhD student in Ewan Birney\u2019s research group, and I work on the genetics of the human retina. I\u2019m focusing on identifying links between the morphology of the retina, genetics and diseases, in particular glaucoma. One thing I really enjoy about my work is exploring data because a lot of times unexpected things emerge.<\/p>\n

How did you get into coding?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I didn\u2019t know very much about computer science before going to university, but a few of my friends studied it, and speaking to them got me interested. I learned to code mainly by doing online courses, like Codecademy<\/a>. My friends recommended Python so I started with that.<\/p>\n

What are your tips for learning to code?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I think online courses are great \u2013 the more practical, the better. But even more importantly, if there is a community around you, such as a class or a meet-up, definitely join it \u2013 that way, when you get stuck, you have people to ask.<\/p>\n

What is CoderDojo?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

CoderDojo<\/a> is an international organisation that promotes computer science to young people through free, accessible and fun workshops. Volunteers set up local dojos, where kids come along and learn to code. The format is very flexible and CoderDojo offers lots of different resources to help you get started.<\/p>\n

Apart from the regular meet-ups, once a year there\u2019s a huge convention where the kids can present their work.<\/p>\n

So what does your CoderDojo look like?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My CoderDojo has been running for about two years and each session attracts about 20 to 25 kids and their families. The kids are usually between 6 and 17 years old.<\/p>\n

We teach Python and Scratch<\/a>, a drag-and-drop style coding platform built by MIT especially for teaching children. It\u2019s very colourful and has animated cats that you can programme to dance about, so it\u2019s lots of fun. But you can also do very creative things with it, like storytelling, building games, quizzes and more.<\/p>\n

Participants are given worksheets to complete with the help of mentors, who are all volunteers. None of this would have been possible without the support of volunteers and the organisations that have generously offered us the time and space to hold these meetings.<\/p>\n