Why CoderDojo is actually cool

Just four years ago, software ninjas James Whelton and Bill Liao got together in Cork and came up with a simple but brilliant concept called CoderDojo. Since then, the movement has gone viral with the establishment of more than 740 Dojos across the world and our Saturdays have been transformed.

 

CoderDojo is an entirely voluntary movement, involving 30,000 regular participants, one of whom is my middle child. Every Saturday morning during term time, he gets to learn how to code in several languages and explore with technology at his Dojo in the Institute of Technology Tralee. There he gets to hang out with other like-minded kids and relax in a world where you don’t have to play football or have great hair, yet the motto is “Above All: Be Cool”. Focusing on the need to "Be Cool" and avoid wasting people’s time or being a bully shows kids another way to fit in off the pitch or street corner.

 

In the past two years, my teenager has learned JavaScript, PHP and HTML, collaborated in designing a game, and—most important—developed a close group of friends. These kids learn to work together, writing web scripts, creating mobile apps, and designing games with the help of volunteers from the ITT. Parents get involved too, taking turns to supervise, but so far, I haven’t done anything more technical than move some tables around.

 

CoderDojo runs a Coolest Projects event every year, with more than 500 projects showcased this year, and although the standard of these projects is exceptional, what also stands out is the impression that these kids are really having fun doing something interesting and constructive. Some kids are moving on, building their own technology and even launching and mentoring their own Dojos. I don’t know if my Ninja will ever get to that stage, but what I’ve really noticed is the direction it has given him. He’s talking about studying game design in college and is working away on his own animation projects on his tablet.

 

With Facebook encroaching on school books, it might be a somewhat hypocritical of me to be talking up a hobby that involves even more time on the laptop, but this is time shared with other like-minded adolescents, and in a world where being a geek has not always been easy, that’s cool.

 

Aoife O'Carroll is a separated mum living in Co Kerry with her two boys aged 17 and 14, and a girl aged 10.

 

Image via Pinterest