EduCon 2018

CoderDojo is a movement oriented around running free not-for-profit coding clubs for young people. It was founded in Ireland in 2011 by James Whelton and Bill Liao. There are now over 125 CoderDojos in 22 countries around the world. Albemarle County Public Schools (ACPS) in Charlottesville, Virginia held its inaugural CoderDojo Summer Academy, August 6-9, 2012. The initial goal for the Academy was to host 50 students. Those slots were taken up in the first few minutes of registration, so the program was expanded to 200 while over 700 applied! ACPS is now seeding CoderDojos around the district’s feeder patterns.

During this conversation we want to explore the phenomenon of CoderDojo. What is it and why the appeal? Is it important to the current educational landscape? What might CoderDojo look like in different communities and settings? We also want to build a list of resources, best practices, advocacy tools, etc. that would help encourage the creation of CoderDojos around the country.