Junior Coding Academy
We’re thrilled to announce that interMediaKT is one of 28 organizations in 16 countries receiving a 2016 Google RISE Award! The Google RISE Award is a program for non-formal education organizations around the world that promote computer science (CS) for K-12/pre-university age youth that are traditionally underrepresented in CS. InterMediaKT received a Google RISE Award for the project Junior Coding Academy supporting: scratch programming, game development and Arduino activities free to students in Greece, including refugee youth in collaboration with the e-CoMeT Lab of Hellenic Open University. Learn more about the winners at g.co/riseawards#!rise-recipients
Some quick facts:
- So far in 2016, Google has provided $1.2M in grants to 56 organizations in 28 countries through the RISE Awards.
- The RISE Awards began in 2010; 2016 marks Google’s seventh year of supporting outstanding organizations that engage girls and underrepresented students in extracurricular computer science programs.
- In the last seven years, over $5 million dollars in RISE Awards have been given to more than 200 organizations across 45 countries reaching over 1 million students and educators.
Running dates: February 2017 – May 2018
Programme: Google Rise Award
Website: http://juniorcodingacademy.gr/
More about Google Rise Award
The need for more diverse students graduating with degrees in computer science has never been as apparent as it is today. The technology industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the U.S., and technology job opportunities are predicted to grow at a faster rate than all other jobs in the professional sector, up to 22% growth over the next decade. Yet interest in computer science education in some communities continues to lag behind.
“We need more kids falling in love with science and math.”
That’s what Larry Page, Google’s co-founder, said at 2013 I/O, and it’s a feeling shared by all at Google. Technology has the power to change the world for the better and Google has made it a priority to inspire young people to not just use technology, but to create it. But far too few students have access to either the education or encouragement they need to pursue computer science. We want to help bridge that gap and get more students access and exposure to CS.
“For me, it matters that we drive technology as an equalizing force, as an enabler for everyone around the world. Which is why I do want Google to see, push, and invest more in making sure computing is more accessible, connectivity is more accessible.”
– Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google Inc. (Verge, 2015)
More about Junior Coding Academy project
The aim of this project is to implement and offer the following three courses:
1. Scratch programming
2. Scratch Game development
3. Scratch for Arduino
The courses will be offered for free to students aged 10-16 coming from various socioeconomic backgrounds. Our team will implement the necessary educational materials and run the courses in blended learning mode in different areas in Greece.
Based on their programming competences, students will follow the suitable course in order to develop their programming skills. The courses will run after the school and/or during weekends. Each course will be completed in two or three weeks and will be repeated several times during the school year. We are going to engage students from rural areas who have fewer opportunities to interact with technology. At least 60% of the participants will be girls.
Refugee children are currently integrated in the Greek educational system. Therefore, we plan to run specialized classes for them, with the presence of a translator and/or a psychologist, if necessary. We hope to include at least 50 refugee children in our program.
The produced material will be also used to form an entirely online course, which will be made available to the learning community in order to be used into other teaching actions.
Finally, a student Scratch coding contest will be established with various gifts for the students with the most original ideas and creations.
