Month: August 2019

6 things you can do to support our translation community

We want you to be able to run Code Clubs without any language barrier, so we’re working to make our projects available in as many languages as possible. At the heart of our translation efforts are volunteer translators from around the world.

    How can you help us provide the translations you need? 

    As you’re a Code Club volunteer, you can do lots of small (or not so small) things to help us support our community of volunteer translators, so that they can create more translations for you:

    1. Tell us what you want us to translate

    Share your input on how you use our translations and what other resources you’d like us to translate, by filling in this short survey.

    2. Help us recruit more volunteer translators

    Use these resources to reach out to your own community:

    1. An email template to contact people you think might be interested in volunteer translation (copy and amend the text as needed), plus a PDF flyer to send
    2. Some example social media posts to spread the word (copy and amend the text as needed)
    3. Our YouTube video about translating for us — share it with your network

    Share your input on how you use our translations and what other resources you’d like us to translate, by filling in this short survey.

    Nina and Maja the Raspberry Pi Foundation Translation team.

    3. Motivate our volunteer translators

    Sharing the positive impact of our translated resources on social media using the hashtag #RPiTranslate, so that our volunteers see the results of their hard work and dedication.

    4. Run a translation hackathon event

    Get together as a group and translate the resources of your choice. We‘re providing a hackathon guide with everything you need to help you plan this.

    5. If you’ve already created translations of our learning resources for your club…

    Send them to us at translation@raspberrypi.org. We will review them and publish on our website, and we’ll credit you and/or your club so that everyone knows they’re able to learn in their own language thanks to you!

    6. If you’re currently translating some of our resources, or are planning to…

    Please let us know, so we can introduce you to our well-established translation process, which makes translating easier for you and helps us share your translations with other community members.

    Through the time you give to volunteering for Code Club, you can also do much to build and support our translation community. Together, we can help all Code Clubs run without any language barrier!

    It’s time to get #CodeClubReady!

    In September, our team members around the world will be hosting webinars so that you can learn more about how you can join us on our mission to put a Code Club in every community in the world. 

    We want to make sure that you have everything you need to start a Code Club in your community. Sign up for a webinar below to learn about the free resources to help you start a Code Club and get #CodeClubReady for the school year! 

    Check out the webinar topics! 

    Introduction to Code Club 

    In this webinar, you will learn about our mission to put a Code Club in every community in the world, and how you can join! We’ll talk about how to start a club and the resources available to support you, and answer your questions. 

    Code Club: Your first session! 

    In this webinar, we will dive into the Code Club coding projects and discuss best practices for your first club session. You’ll get to try some coding, and leave with ideas for your first Code Club session! 

    Grab your spot! 

    Tuesday 3 September, 10:00 PDT/13:00 EDT/18:00 BST

    Introduction to Code Club (run by the Code Club UK team)

    Register here: register.gotowebinar.com/register/8808539894038230796

    Wednesday 4 September, 10:00 PDT/13:00 EDT/18:00 BST

    Introduction to Code Club (run by Code Club USA) 

    Register here: register.gotowebinar.com/register/8937853457052369420 

    Tuesday 10 September, 10:00 PDT/13:00 EDT/18:00 BST

    Code Club: Your first session! (run by the Code Club USA team) 

    Register here: register.gotowebinar.com/register/6759853963335152140 

    Thursday 12 September, 10:00 PDT/13:00 EDT/18:00 BST 

    Introduction to Code Club (run by the Code Club USA team) 

    Register here: register.gotowebinar.com/register/588718508605140748 

    Wednesday 18 September, 10:00 PDT/13:00 EDT/18:00 BST

    Code Club: Your first session! (run by the Code Club USA team) 

    Register here: register.gotowebinar.com/register/7868683952156791052 

    Monday 23 September, 12:30 BST

    Introduction to Code Club (run by the Code Club International team)

    Register here: register.gotowebinar.com/register/4981256466620803085

    If you’re in the UK, Ireland, or the USA, check out the Code Club website for help starting a Code Club, and for information about future events and webinars. If you’re outside of the UK, Ireland, or the USA, visit codeclubworld.org to learn how you can get a Code Club started in your community! 

    From Adelaide to Worcestershire: How two Code Club volunteers 21 hours apart met up to share their experience of running a Code Club

    Code Club has a global network of coding clubs in over 150 countries. Find out what happened when a Code Club volunteer from Australia visited the Code Club at The Hive in Worcester, UK!

    It took a plane trip for this Code Club visit!

    Angela Brown is a Code Club volunteer at Aldinga Library near Adelaide, Australia. Angela loves making connections and thought a family trip to the UK would be an excellent opportunity to visit a UK Code Club.  

    Angela with her two children sat at a desk look at a laptop.
    Angela and her children taking part in The Hive’s holiday programme.

    Midlands Regional Coordinator Tim Wilson contacted Anita Kiss, who runs two Code Clubs and a Coder Dojo at The Hive, a library in Worcester. 

    The club was running a special one-off coding session as part of their holiday programme — perfect timing for Angela’s trip to the UK:

    When we’re on holiday, I don’t just stop thinking about coding, so the first thing I thought of was: can we find a Code Club to visit? 
    – Angela Brown

    What happened on the day 

    The Hive ran a special family coding session, where at least three generations of budding coders got stuck into a fun selection of Code Club projects, including Beat the goalie, Scratch Cat goes skiing, and Archery:

    It was fun to see the interaction across the generations not just between mums, dads and their kids, but also to see grandparents with their grandchildren as well.
    – Tim Wilson 

    Differences and similarities

    At the end of the Code Club session, Tim had a chat with Angela and Anita about the differences and similarities between the two clubs.

    One major difference was the locations of Code Clubs. Children travel for up to half an hour to get to Aldinga Library, their nearest Code Club, while children at Code Club at The Hive are predominantly from the local Worcester area. 

    As it is a long way between clubs in Australia, it can be tough to visit clubs, meet other volunteers, and discuss challenges and share good ideas. So, Angela welcomed the opportunity to network while on holiday in the UK: 

    Despite differences in scale, budget, and venue size, many of the challenges and success running Code Clubs, whether large or small, are similar. We can all learn a lot from each other!
    – Angela Brown 

    Both Angela and Anita talked about the benefits of having a good mix of boys and girls learning to code, as well as a shared philosophy of everyone learning together.

    They also talked about the importance of encouraging parents to explore coding alongside their children, and of having an inclusive approach to young people from all educational and learning backgrounds: 

    I think public library Code Clubs work hard to be welcoming to everyone who is keen to try coding in a friendly, relaxed and informal atmosphere.”
    – Angela Brown 

    Why visit a Code Club? 

    No matter where you are on your Code Club journey, visiting a club is inspiring, informative and fun! 

    Angela and Anita and Angela's son stood in front of a book case.

    Angela found her visit to The Hive valuable: 

    Meeting with Anita and visiting The Hive was really inspiring. It is something I will learn from as a Code Club Volunteer and I think it will help us grow our Code Club in different ways I might not have considered.
    – Angela Brown  

    Anita from The Hive also enjoyed welcoming Angela to her Code Club:

    It was so useful exchanging ideas and experiences with Angela and we absolutely loved having her at The Hive. It was very interesting to hear how they run Code Club at Aldinga Library as (although similar), I think all Code Clubs are different and have their own personality due to the lovely volunteers and staff who run them and, obviously, because all coders are different and have got unique and cool ideas!
    – Anita Kiss 

    If you’re interested in meeting other volunteers, why not join us at a Code Club event? If you’re based in Australia and want to get involved, find out how to set up a Code Club near you!