006 #young
Update: See post 007 for a summary of this week's activities, and check out Youth Events on our forum for notes from discussions and latest plans.
This week we are all set up for the Festival of Code at one of the coolest locations for tech hacking in town, the one and only Fab Lab Bern. Invite your kids and/or let out your inner child to explore data and build apps that will have an impact on the way we live in the future!
The workshop is open all week for Festival of Code projects, and we have mentors (experienced programmers) on site. People bring their own laptops, and we can help set up a development environment even if you've never coded before, also there is also lots of cool hardware to play with here, like Arduinos, Raspberry Pis, LEAP Motion, Kinect, Google Cardboard, 3D printers, laser cutters, tablets, hoverboards, etc.
Since we are expecting kids to show up tomorrow and later this week, we have focused on learning about what young coders are interested in today, investigating how programming is being taught and promoted in Switzerland and internationally, brainstorming ideas about how to get ready for the Festival next year, and interacting with other Festival of Code sites online. We will post a more detailed recap of these activities later on in the week.
For now check out the THE ULTIMATE FESTIVAL SURVIVAL GUIDE by James Brookes that went out to participants over the weekend, which we've paraphased adding a few links of our own:
Brush up on your coding skills
Think about what you would like to build
Distribute tasks effectively
Don’t be afraid to ask questions!
Most importantly - Have fun!
Let us know your thoughts: write a note, tell us whether you think we should bring more events like this to Switzerland, and how we can help you and all the kids in your neighbourhood with your creative incredible brilliant projects!