We are in uncertain times. To protect the community, schools, libraries, community centres, and many other public spaces have had to make the difficult decision to close. Following the advice of national health officials, we will be halting all in-person workshops. We’ve modified many of our programs and services to keep our whole community safe and healthy - from kids and educators, to our team and volunteers. Here are a few ways we’re connecting with families and educators across Canada to continue learning and connecting while keeping us all safe!
KCJ will continue to support and bring communities together through learning code. The KCJ team has been delivering online workshops for kids and teachers for years. In the past year, our webinar teacher training and in-classroom workshops have been supporting rural and remote communities across Canada with great success! We are now ready to unite kids, educators, parents, and care-givers online so we can all keep learning together.
For kids who want to keep coding at home, Code Club Canada will be leading online hangouts in place of in-person meetups. Kids, care-givers, and educators are all welcome to join as our certified instructors walk you through fun activities and challenges. We’ll be covering a different activity each week so kids will have plenty to do with while school is out. They can even invite their friends to join!
We’re looking at ways to offer teacher training online through webinars. Sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date on our online offerings. If you’re part of a community of teachers who want to keep learning, let us know! You can also join us on social media to share your ideas with us and teachers across the country.
Until further notice, all Code in the Classroom workshops will be postponed. If you haven’t had the chance to register, join our waitlist so you’re the first to know when we begin to offer in-person workshops again.
With many students at home, we want to provide parents and care-givers with resources to keep kids excited about learning. This is an opportunity for kids to challenge themselves and learn new skills - maybe they can teach their teachers something new when they return to school!
Our Code Club Projects and Resources pages offer lots of activities for kids and caregivers to do together. Broken down into simple steps, these projects are accessible for all levels, even coding newbies.
Micro:bits are one of our favourite tools to teach coding. These mini-computers can do almost anything! Check out our micro:bit tutorial series on YouTube and start creating. Or, if you’re feeling competitive, you can try to get a high score in one of our micro:bit arcade games: Valentine’s Day or Pong! Don’t have a micro:bit at home? Don’t worry - you can still brush up on your coding skills using the free micro:bit emulator.
Just this month, we unveiled The Algorithm Literacy Project, an effort with CCUNESCO to demystify the world behind our computer screens and to help kids be responsible digital citizens. We all interact with algorithms every day, but most of us don’t understand what they are or how they impact our lives. Kids and care-givers can learn together through an educational video and accompanying discussion guide.
During this time of uncertainty, our top priority is looking out for each other, staying safe, and supporting communities as best we can. We hope to return to classrooms and communities in person soon, but until then, let’s stay connected, sharing and learning together, online. As always, we are so grateful for CanCode’s funding and support, which allows us to make the necessary changes to continue offering our services online during this time.
It’s important to remember that isolation and social distancing doesn’t mean you’re alone. Keep collaborating and sharing your projects with our Twitter community! If you have any ideas, or there’s anything we can do to help out during this time, please let us know. We look forward to hearing from you!