Coding Education

The Fun Way to Keep Kids Learning Over the Summer

There isn’t always agreement over how much sense it makes in today’s world to have a summer break from school and more and more schools are turning to a year-round model with shorter breaks throughout the year. Whether you support summer vacations or not, there’s plenty of evidence that kids can lose valuable skills when not challenged over the summer months.

That’s where incredible STEM-based programs come in. We ran across a very inspiring article in The River City News titled Summer of STEM Aims to Keep Kids Learning Over School Break that could inspire anyone.

The author writes, “This summer’s 17-year cicada hum will be drowned out by the shrieks of discovery, the pure delight and joy as children of all ages and walks of life from the Cincinnati region participate in summer camps, activities and classes during the Summer of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) that combats brain drain with active, engaged learning.

While many offerings are highly developed by longtime STEM-focused organizations, the collaboration and network Summer of STEM (SOS) ties together is new.

ArtsWave’s Kintner was grateful her organization, the nation’s largest and oldest community arts campaign, had the technology to enable a joint listing of arts and STEM activities. “The efficiency of that platform,” according to Kintner, “enabled cincyartsandstem.org and a richer, more comprehensive tool.” The unusual pairing of art and STEM “gives kids new access points and the chance for STEM educators and parents to see arts opportunities at the same time,” Kintner said.

“As Cincinnati becomes a hotbed for the maker movement, start-ups, entrepreneurial culture and tech support, it’s really important that our century-old arts institutions are not relegated to or stuck in the past in actuality or public perception. One way to ensure the cutting edge is to be closely aligned with the new future and the new economy. Cincyartsandstem.org is one manifestation of that vision.”

“Because there’s so much design work in engineering and everything has a creative bent, we don’t want to limit these kids,” Kelley said. “Whether it’s ballet or biology camp, they can find resources in the same place.”

“Our highest order for Summer of STEM is to keep kids engaged in a natural asset: a giant, outdoor science lab,” said Mary Adams, GCSC program manager and former Procter & Gamble (P&G) executive. Uniting education and business partners, non-profit organizer GCSC opens STEM educational and career possibilities to meet the accelerating regional demand.”

At CodeREV we’ve been well aware for years that STEM-based summer camps can have a huge and lasting impact. We’re always glad to see other areas of the country embracing the evidence. Are you curious about after-school or summer camp options in the Los Angeles area and beyond? Contact us today!

Coding Education

How Disney is Upping the Coding for Kids Game

At CodeREV we’re excited to see companies and schools across the country begin to see how important coding is and why it should be taught to kids. To do that, we need to find innovative ways to make the experience fun and interesting. We’ve come up with some really unique and well-received ways to do that but it’s nice to see that Disney is working hard to shoulder some of that burden too.

USA Today has an article titled Disney to join effort to get kids into the coding game. Greg Toppo writes, “Do you want to code a snowman? How about a droid? The non-profit group Code.org on Tuesday said that it will team up with Disney and Lucasfilm to create Frozen- and Star Wars-themed computer science courses for children, part of a free, 80-hour computer science course that will be integrated into the group’s curriculum over the next year.

In 2014, Code.org’s much shorter “Hour of Code” animation tutorial featured Anna and Elsa from Frozen, while the 2015 version included Rey, BB-8, Princess Leia, R2-D2 and others from Star Wars, the group said. It hopes the characters will provide a kind of bridge for students to transition from the short introductory tutorials to a full computer science course, offered at its online Code Studio. “We regularly hear from teachers that their students want to keep coding,” said Hadi Partovi, the group’s CEO and co-founder.

Students, he said, have been known to skip recess to spend more time coding. “Part of this is because it’s inherently fun to create things, to make apps or games,” he said. “But a huge part of it is because of the engagement factor from interacting with characters like Anna and Elsa, BB-8, or R2-D2.” The new partnership was announced at the annual conference of the International Society for Technology in Education. Code.org said more than 11 million students and 330,000 teachers have accounts on its platform.”

Are you interested in hearing more about coding for kids in the Los Angeles and surrounding areas? CodeREV has been bringing the world of STEM-learning and coding to kids for quite some time and we’re excited to expand on a regular basis. We’ve found some really unique ways to get kids excited in both our summer camps and our after-school sessions.

Coding Education

There Are Many Ways to Teach Kids Problem-Solving Skills

At CodeREV, we believe it’s important to teach kids how to solve problems. While sometimes it’s important to give them the right answer, most of the time they’re going to learn a lot more if they discover how to actually solve the problem on their own. There are a lot of ways to give them these valuable skills, as evidenced in a recent article in Teacher Magazine titled Developing problem-solving skills.

Jo Earp writes, “When Teacher shares examples of how evidence is being used to inform future action it’s usually educators who are doing the analysis and reflection, but in this case it’s students who’ve been digging into school data while developing their problem-solving skills. The Year 5 and 6 students at Sydney’s Curran Public School have been taking part in the Future Problem Solving Program. ‘Originally, when we started, it was just an idea of trying to build some social conscience and some commitment to the community within my kids,’ Principal Michael Strahan explains. They ended up representing Australia at the international finals in the US, placing third.

Under the guidance of ‘team coach’ Kylie Ring, the youngsters competed in the community problem-solving category and narrowed down their focus to education. Their project was called Kids Helping Kids and aimed to support early years transition. Strahan takes up the story again: ‘It was all about giving kids who are going to come to the school the fundamentals and the foundations to succeed and put them on a pathway to success. The [team of students] sat down with teachers and analysed the entry data that kids were coming into school with. … They did some research and [thought about] the best possible way of making an impact, then developed a plan and put that plan into action.’

Part of the plan was to create care packages that were distributed to pre-Kindergarten students and their families that contained resources to support early learning. The first care package included resources like pencils, pens and tracing cards. Strahan says the new starters and their parents loved the fact they were getting a box from Curran Public School to help them prepare, but adds the real strength of the project for the 12 members of the competition team was what happened next.

‘They then did a comparison analysis against what the kids came into school with this year after distributing the first package, celebrated some successes in the kids’ improvement but also found where there were areas of need and then plugged those up, so it was really evidence-based.’”

This is truly an innovative way to get kids excited about problem solving. At CodeREV we have a series of classes and camps that are designed specifically to show kids that they already have the skills they need, they just need to learn to hone them.

Coding Education

The Work of Getting Girls Involved in Tech Continues

Though great strides have been made by companies like CodeREV, and great gains have been shown, there’s still a lot of work to be done when it comes to getting girls involved in tech generally and coding specifically. Computer World recently published an article titled Tech camps for girls: Don’t let your daughter miss out that brings together some alarming stats.

Rebecca Linke writes, “The tech industry has a dearth of female talent. As of 2013, only 26% of technology jobs were held by women, according to a review by the American Association of University Women. After peaking in the early ’80s, the percentage of computer science bachelor’s degrees received by U.S. women has steadily declined.

With the growing skills shortage in certain key areas, enticing more women into technology can only help the field as a whole. Patricia Barber helps lead Girls in Technology, which offers a mentoring program for girls interested in pursuing careers in STEM. “Research suggests that for the tech jobs that are going to be available in the future, there isn’t going to be enough talent to fill those positions unless women and girls became involved,” she says.

In Massachusetts, a high-tech mecca, women held only around 26.5% of tech jobs in 2014, a slight drop from 2007, according to a new study from the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council. Workforce diversity in Silicon Valley isn’t much better.

Monica Eaton-Cardone, founder and CIO of Global Risk Technologies, agrees. “To change this, women need to be encouraged to follow their interests and need to be educated on the growing potential of STEM careers,” she says.

One way to achieve this change is to get girls involved in STEM fields from an early age, and a growing number of programs across the country aim to do just that. Summer is just around the corner, and while offerings such as MIT’s Women’s Technology Program and Girls Who Code’s summer immersion program are filled, a few programs are still accepting applications. Read more about them, below.”

Of course we agree with their great idea of getting girls involved in STEM fields as early as possible. That’s why CodeREV offers a variety of classes, including a tech camp, that shows girls how exciting and rewarding these skills can be. When they get older they’ll be pleased to learn that these skills can be lucrative too!

Coding Education

Interest in STEM Camps Grows Around the Country

There’s no shortage of kids interested in attending STEM camps. We see it year after year at CodeREV kids, but other areas of the country are seeing the same results. The Newark Advocate recently published an article titled Nearly 170 kids attend Newark school’s first STEM camp that tells the story of one camp’s incredible success.

Maria DeVito writes, “Jesse Freeman and Jacob Brechbill spent an hour coloring together last week. But they weren’t drawing just any picture. The two programmed a small robot to follow a path they had drawn with markers. The robot registers colors and will perform actions such as stopping, speeding up or turning around when it goes over certain hues.

“I had no clue this was even a thing,” said Jesse, an 11-year-old who will be entering sixth grade. “I’m not a big fan of coloring, but this is awesome.” Jesse and Jacob, a 10-year-old who will be a fifth-grader, both had limited experience with robots, but programming was new to them. “I don’t think I’d ever be able to have an experience like that ever,” Jesse said. “This is the first time that I’ve been able to play around with robotics, play around with color coding, and I think it’s just amazing.”

Jesse and Jacob were two of nearly 170 fourth- through ninth-grade students who participated in Newark’s first STEM camp last week, which focused on science, technology, engineering and math. The five-day camp’s theme was amusement parks; students designed carnival games and rides, learned coding, and worked with 3-D printers and circuits.

Rebecca Holloway, a seventh-grade science and pre-engineering teacher at Liberty Middle School, said it was amazing to watch the students throughout the week. “I love how they just take the challenge and they go,” she said. She has always taught middle school kids and was nervous to work with the fourth- through sixth-grade students, but her fears were unwarranted.

“I’ve been amazed at how they’re able to really plan things out. They’re taking the challenge. They’re going along with it,” she said of the younger students. “It excites me about what’s going to come up my way.” Maura Horgan, Newark’s director of curriculum and staff development, said the district provides camps for boys and girls basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports and wanted to offer a STEM camp as well. The camp was free to students, who also were provided a free lunch and transportation if needed. Because of the camp’s success in its first year, Horgan said the district will do it next year as well. Teaches have already started brainstorming about what they can do to improve the camp.”

Our experience at CodeREV has been incredibly similar. The kids who come to our summer camps, after-school classes, or any of our other offerings, are excited about science – some for the first time. Is your kid ready to join us?

Coding Education

Half of Today’s Top-Paying Jobs Require Some Level of Coding

What’s the most important thing kids could learn that they’re not learning in school? According to a recent article in MarketWatch titled Half of the high-paying jobs in America now require this skill, it’s a skill we’re passionate about at CodeREV: coding.

Catey Hill writes, “If terms like SQL, Python and JavaScript aren’t on your radar, employers may not be interested in hiring you. Roughly half of the jobs in the top income quartile — defined as those paying $57,000 or more per year — are in occupations that commonly require applicants to have at least some computer coding knowledge or skill, according to an analysis of 26 million U.S. online job postings released this month by job market analytics firm Burning Glass and Oracle Academy, the philanthropic arm of Oracle focused on computer science education, in Redwood City, Calif.

In simple terms, coders write the instructions that tell computers what to do; in-demand programming languages include SQL, Java, JavaScript, C# and Python. This high number is thanks, in part, to the fact that it’s not just technology jobs that now require at least some coding knowledge, says Alison Derbenwick Miller, the vice president of Oracle Academy. “Computing has become a tool in every industry,” which means that coding knowledge is now needed for workers across fields, she says. Indeed, everyone from business people who work with data to designers and marketers who create websites to scientists who conduct research now need at least some coding knowledge.

Employers and employees — even those who aren’t in the technology field — say the same. Jake Lane, a growth analyst at lawn care company LawnStarter, says that “having some knowledge of coding is essential for job seekers these days,” as it can help them understand the tasks of — and work more effectively with — other departments, including their tech and engineering teams.

Angela Copeland, who majored in computer science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY but subsequently moved to a marketing career, agrees: “Although I transitioned away from computer programming and into marketing, having a coding background has really helped me. First, when I’ve worked on website projects, it’s easier for me to communicate directly with developers. In the end, this causes my projects to get done faster and more accurately.”

At CodeREV, none of this is a surprise. We know that coding can help kids with their school work today and can help improve their job prospects in the future. That’s why we offer everything from after-school classes to summer camps.

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The Worldwide Quest to Get More Women Involved in Computing Jobs

There’s no secret that more men than women currently work in computing jobs but what many people in the U.S. don’t realize is that this is by and large a global problem. A recent article titled ​CSIRO concerned with decline in young females studying computing details some of the concerns Australian officials have.

Asha Barbaschow writes, “The CSIRO’s Digital Careers education program has said it is alarmed at the lack of young females studying computer science at primary and secondary school, which is a national concern Australia needs to address if the country wants to meet the needs of the future workforce. In its report, Female participation in school computing: reversing the trend, Digital Careers says that social pressure, a lack of self-belief, and the perception that computer science is not suited for girls were identified as key factors influencing young female students.

To combat the social pressure influencing the decision of young females, the report suggests sustaining their interest in computing through intervention in years 7-8, which was highlighted as the time when participation and interest in such studies begins to decline. The report also found that while science, technology, mathematics, and science (STEM) studies have had a strong presence in mandatory schooling curriculum from kindergarten since the 1960s, computer science has not had the same exposure. The report did highlight that the percentage of women participating in STEM areas has been steadily increasing, however the number of women participating in computer science has continued to steadily decrease since the mid 1980s.

While university female participation rates are low, the report says that senior school female participation rates in computer education are lower still. “Student participation in senior high school computing subjects in Australia’s three most populous states, show a sustained decline from around 19,000 in 2007 to 13,000 in 2015,” the report says. In order to combat the skills shortage in females, Digital Careers suggests that initiatives linked to the school curriculum are most likely to be successful in normalising digital technologies subjects.”

At CodeREV we couldn’t agree more with the solutions outlined in this article: get girls involved at a younger age. That’s one of the reasons we’re so passionate about after-school programs and summer camps. Getting our kids involved in the fascinating world of coding and other computer technologies keeps their minds sharp and proves to them that they can do anything.

Coding Education

Google Teams Up with Libraries to Teach Kids to Code

Google knows how helpful it can be to teach kids to code, which is why they teamed up with some New York Libraries. The article titled Google Teams Up With Queens Library to Offer Free Coding Classes for Kids offers some insight into the program.

Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska writes, “About 300 kids will get a chance to study computer programming with Google, which has teamed up with the Queens Library to offer free programs for them this summer. The classes, created for children from fourth through eighth grade, will initially be available at 26 branches, the library said, but more locations will be added in the fall. The Queens institution is the first library partnering with Google to offer its CS First Program, according to Joanne King, a spokeswoman for the library.

“Google approached us […] and we jumped on it because we are always looking for partnerships which will enhance the library’s STEM programs and bring more computer literacy to people in Queens,” King said.  Google will provide free coding classes to children from fourth through eighth grade at 26 Queens Library locations this summer.  Google will provide free coding classes to children from fourth through eighth grade at 26 Queens Library locations this summer. View Full Caption Getty Images

As part of the program, kids around the borough will be learning a programming language called Scratch for two weeks (for about an hour a day, four days a week). Children will follow different curriculums at various branches, using coding for several activities, including designing computer games, learning animation as well as exploring fashion and art. The overall goal, the library said, is to increase kids’ confidence in using computers and to encourage them to try new things. The program also seeks to show them how computer science can impact their future careers.

“Computer Science skills are critical to for the success of our youth and our country,” William Floyd, Google’s head of public affairs for New York, said in a statement. “By 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts there will be 1 million more computer science jobs than graduating students who qualify to fill them.” In addition, a group of 20 high school students will be trained as apprentices to help kids in the program over the summer and later in the fall, the library said.”

At CodeREV we think this is a great problem but the good news is that you don’t have to live in Queens to get your kids involved in coding. Check out our summer camps and after-school programs designed specifically to help kids get excited and interested in coding and computer technology.

Coding Education

No Surprises: Early Access to STEM Classes Has Significant Impact

At CodeREV we’re big supporters of kids having access to hands-on STEM experiences as early as possible. A recent article is showing that when this happens in undergraduate courses, it has a rather expected effect on graduation rates. The article titled Hands-On Science in the Classroom Boosts STEM Retention Almost 25 Percent in Photonics Media lays it all out.

The author writes, “A recent study found that a student’s chances of completing a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degree significantly increases when he or she participates in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), which engage students in hands-on research at a large scale. Researchers from the Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science analyzed data from more than 4,000 students who participated in the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) at the University of Texas. Using propensity score-matching to control for student-level differences, the researchers tested the effect of participating in FRI on students’ probability of graduating with a STEM degree and their probability of completing a degree in six years. In students who completed all three semesters of FRI, likelihood of graduating increased from 66 to 83 percent, and likelihood of graduating with a STEM degree increased from 71 to 94 percent.

The results, which were similar across all demographic groups, indicate that potentially for every ten students who participate in FRI, two will graduate who would have otherwise dropped out or taken longer than six years to get an undergraduate degree; and almost three more students will earn a STEM degree because they participated in the program.

FRI puts first- and second-year undergraduates in faculty-led labs where they perform discovery-based research on questions and problems of interest to the scientific community. Students choose projects from more than 25 different areas in the life sciences, physical sciences and computer science. They have the opportunity to make discoveries that are relevant to stakeholders outside the classroom and engage in troubleshooting, problem solving, and building off one another’s progress in ways that resemble the practice of STEM.”

These are some pretty impressive statistics but it stands to reason that if you get kids involved at an even younger age, the results could be even more impressive. And that’s why CodeREV has made it our mission to do just that. Check out our summer camps for more information.

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Kansas City Understands the Importance of After-School Programs

There are many reasons after-school programs are so important for kids: they keep them off the street, they teach them valuable skills, and they give kids a sense of belonging. Based on a recent article on Kansas City’s KCUR, it appears the mayor of that fine city understands how important they are.

In an article titled Mayor Sly James Stresses Importance Of After-School And Summer Programs For Kids, Lisa Rodriguez writes, “Kansas City Mayor Sly James joined city leaders and educators from Missouri and Kansas Saturday at the Kauffman Foundation for the Municipal Summit on Afterschool and Expanded Learning to discuss the importance of after-school and summer programs for students. James says once students are out of school for the summer, there’s not always a lot for them to do — which he says puts them at risk for participating in dangerous activities.

James said across Missouri and Kansas, only 14 percent of school-aged kids participate in after-school events. “What are the other 86 percent doing? I will guarantee you that not all of the 86 percent are engaged in helping ladies across the street or carrying groceries out of stores… some of them are engaged in some pretty risky behaviors,” James says. As he welcomed the room full of city mayors, council people and education advocates, James praised programs like Mayor’s Nights and Turn The Page that he says keep young people safe and provide them with positive role models.

He says research shows getting more young people involved could reduce crime and keep them safer. “When our kids are involved in our summer programming, juvenile crime and juvenile victimization is down 18 percent,” James says. Joining James in leading the summit was Leawood, Kansas Mayor Peggy Dunn, who echoed many of James’ sentiments. “Research shows that if there were more opportunities, the youth would engage, they would be part of those,” Dunn says. She said she hoped that by hearing initiatives from other cities, everyone could come away with several ideas for summer and after-school programming.

The Municipal Summit on Afterschool and Expanded Learning is part of a series of summits hosted by the National League of Cities. They aim to connect leaders across the region so they can develop partnerships and build collaborative after-school systems.”

CodeREV believes strongly in the importance of both after-school activities and summer camps, which is why we’ve revolutionized them. Get in touch with us to learn more about how your kids can get involved.