Research

Three benefits of attending the computing education seminars! 

2023 is shaping up to be a year full of personal development and learning opportunities at Code Club: in March we’re hosting the Clubs Conference for you; throughout the year you can join our brilliant new Code Club online event programme; and now we have a primary computing education seminar series, delivered by the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Learning at Code Club

While you are busy running Code Clubs, researchers across the globe are committing their time to exploring how education works and how we can ensure that our practice continues to benefit young people’s learning.

The researchers at the Raspberry Pi Foundation have lined up a set of free online seminars about primary (K–5) computing teaching and learning, covering a wide range of topics in primary education.

We invite you to join in these seminars so you can hear some of the most interesting researchers out there share their learnings, and discuss with us how we all can use the researchers’ work to make a difference in our Code Clubs.

The researchers will bring their learnings, but the knowledge you have as a Code Club educator or volunteer will be what makes these seminars unique! That is why we encourage you, whatever your background, to attend and share your experience.

Seminar topics that have caught our attention include:

  • How to teach data literacy in primary education
  • Strategies for giving appropriate feedback
  • How children learn coding through ScratchJr

The benefits of attending

Learning together is a key aspect of Code Club, and the online seminars provide you with a friendly learning environment with like-minded people from across the globe. You’ll gain valuable insights into how your youngest learners develop their computing knowledge, and you will be able to discuss with peers what this means for your Code Club in practical terms.

Expand your computer knowledge

Dr Bobby Whyte from the Raspberry Pi Foundation is the speaker of the Tuesday 7 March seminar. In the session, he will give practical examples of how primary computing can be integrated into literacy education.

Here Bobby shares three benefits you will get out of attending the seminar series: 

  1. Participating in the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s computing education seminars is a great opportunity for you to hear about the latest research topics and ideas. The seminars are open to everyone who is interested in developing their own teaching practice and learning about innovative approaches.
  1. By joining us, you have the chance to spend time with like-minded practitioners and researchers from around the world. After each seminar presentation, you get the opportunity to participate in a breakout session where you can network and share ideas and best practice from your Code Club.
  1. The seminars are a chance to engage in a lively discussion about teaching and provide the chance for you to deepen your knowledge of computing education and expand your teaching toolkit. Researchers often present innovative practices and even share lesson materials, tools, and ideas that you can use in your Code Club. I can’t wait to see you there! 

You can check out the full line-up of seminar speakers online, and sign up to receive all the latest news and to attend a seminar soon.

How your voice has helped shape Code Club in 2020

This year, we asked the Code Club community to take part in two polls to help the team understand how the coronavirus pandemic was impacting clubs around the world.   

Dave Hazeldean, Code Club’s Data Analyst, shares why answering the polls was so important, how they gave us a better picture of how clubs were running, and how we adapted the programme to support educators to continue to inspire the next generation of digital makers.

Countries and territories of volunteers who responded to our poll in green

What we have learned 

This year we ran two polls, one in May and one in September. More than 3000 Code Clubs from 82 countries and territories participated and shared if their club was running sessions, planning to run sessions, or their club was paused.

As we expected, activity in Code Clubs has been severely disrupted by the pandemic, with many clubs forced to pause their sessions, however Dave shares that there has been some positive news: 

“What I found most encouraging is the increase in the proportion of clubs that were running or planning to run in September when compared with the results that we found in May.”

“Of the clubs that are running or planning to run, almost half will be running their sessions online. We are working hard to provide all of the guidance, resources, and support that clubs need to make the transition to online sessions.” 

“In a recent blog post, we heard from members of our community who are now running their Code Clubs online, which I found particularly inspiring.” 

What support is available to Code Clubs running online or in-person sessions? 

There are some great resources available to support you if you are looking to move your Code Club sessions online, or restart sessions in person. 

To help make the transition from running in person to online, we have created a guide for online sessions that provides a great overview of what you may need to consider. 

If you are eager to run your Code Club online, read our guides for parents supporting young people and young people attending online sessions for additional tips before you get started.

If you’re looking to restart your in-person sessions, take a look at our safety guidance for in-person sessions, and this blog post on clubs who have gone back to in-person meetings. 

You can also join us on a regular community call with the clubs team or listen back to previous calls.  

What’s next? 

The pandemic continues to affect our daily lives, but we are adapting to the new learning environment and hope to continue to give young people the space to thrive. 

From Dave and everyone at Code Club we want to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to inform us about their Code Club by responding to our polls this year. Your voice continues to inspire us to move forward.

Your participation in our campaigns is integral to helping us shape our planning and identify the support you need to run your clubs safely. We will be running more polls, and encourage you to take part and give feedback over the months ahead. 

We are always here to support you and if there is anything you need, contact our friendly support team at support@codeclub.org.