This thread is amazing. I started a company with the goal of helping kids learn to code, so I peed a little when I saw that the HN crowd was giving me ideas.
Here are the main things I have figured out (3.5 years, ~6,000 kids in 8 states):
- It has to be fun. Lots of people have said this already, but I have tried and failed starting with academic rigor. Hello world was a psychological payoff in the past, but for this generation it's more like a multiplayer video game (easy on scratch) or fake hacking a news website (people have said this above)
- It has to be social. Anyone can get online and teach themselves, but most people won't. We hold weekly meetings at public libraries where the librarians facilitate (they don't know how to code) and the kids teach themselves. Someone mentioned Sugata Mitra +1.
- It has to be inspiring. I try to help the kids feel part of a movement, like for example getting the governor to talk at a hackathon, and hand out expensive prizes. But not all kids care about that stuff, and the goal is to figure out what they care about and show them how coding can help. Art, business, sports, etc.
To the original post - I know a lot of inner city, rural and tribal libraries that would LOVE to have a shot at those donated laptops.
Here are the main things I have figured out (3.5 years, ~6,000 kids in 8 states): - It has to be fun. Lots of people have said this already, but I have tried and failed starting with academic rigor. Hello world was a psychological payoff in the past, but for this generation it's more like a multiplayer video game (easy on scratch) or fake hacking a news website (people have said this above) - It has to be social. Anyone can get online and teach themselves, but most people won't. We hold weekly meetings at public libraries where the librarians facilitate (they don't know how to code) and the kids teach themselves. Someone mentioned Sugata Mitra +1. - It has to be inspiring. I try to help the kids feel part of a movement, like for example getting the governor to talk at a hackathon, and hand out expensive prizes. But not all kids care about that stuff, and the goal is to figure out what they care about and show them how coding can help. Art, business, sports, etc.
To the original post - I know a lot of inner city, rural and tribal libraries that would LOVE to have a shot at those donated laptops.