Here at the Dublin Web Summit, it’s easy to understand why the tech industry is buzzing. RDS has literally never seen anything like it, with the great and the good from the international tech industry rubbing shoulders with the who’s who of the Irish tech scene. We caught up with Coder Dojo Founders and mentors, Bill Liao and Lindsay MacVean.
Mentor, Lindsay MacVean, spoke about this year’s Coder Dojo DWS event. This afternoon at 4pm, children from all over Ireland will descend on the RDS to take part in a Dojo which is being run by Microsoft employees -who have volunteered their time to teach kids how to create apps on Window’s mobile.
The Coder Dojo movement, which was founded by Bill Liao and newly “minted” Ashoka Fellow, James Whelton, who is the youngest ever Ashoka Fellow worldwide – and now joins such luminaries as Muhammad Yunus (himself a Nobel Peace Prize recipient) -now has 133 Dojo’s worldwide, a phenomenal achievement for a global collaboration of volunteers – which now reaches to Silicon Valley and beyond. Coder Dojo, which promises open free learning for young people is literally changing the way we approach technology education in this country. As recently as last weekend, over 100 Irish Schoolteachers have been trained by James Whelton in programming! Technology as a mainstream subject will soon become part of the curriculum, in-part thanks to Coder Dojo who are championing this cause for Ireland.
“Running a Coder Dojo at the Web Summit allows us to become even more visible to the community that needs us the most, and also encourages the biggest gathering of tech talent this year to engage with the next generation of great tech talent,” said Bill Liao, co-founder.
“The coolest thing on the planet right now,” commented Lindsey McVean, “Who doesn’t want free open learning for children?”
Watch the RTÉ Digital interview with this incredible movement on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA66804sx9o
Good to see Coder Dojo getting some Prime Time. It has to be the best thing ever, teaching kids, young and old, to create applications and have fun at the same time.