Docklands Code Club is revolution-ready

Docklands Code Club is revolution-ready

By Ree Maloney

For the past two years, a group of enthusiastic kids ranging from 7-12 years old has been meeting at the Library at The Dock to learn about the world of technology.

Docklands resident, Sophiya Patel, who has been running the group since 2016, said: “It’s evolved a lot. We started with Scratch – which is a graphical interface. They learn the basics (of coding) and then they get bored because it’s the same thing over and over. So we introduce something new every year. Last year it was robotics.”

Docklands News attended Code Club’s first session of 2018. Teacher Emily Daubey told the group of six: “We’re going to be doing real programming here. This year we’re learning Python – it’s a real programming language and has the most widespread application.”

“We’re going to be doing it on the Raspberry Pi,” she said. Rasberry Pi is a revolutionary mini computer that costs under $100.

According to founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, we are currently at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution.

Unlike previous industrial revolutions, this one is moving at breakneck speed. The results will vastly disrupt a large variety of industry, changing the nature of what roles people will need to fill.  Most of these new roles will relate to technology.

Code Club offers a voluntary service to teach kids about computers, coding and robotics – essentially getting them ready for the fourth industrial revolution.

Code Club is completely reliant on volunteers. Ms Daubey said: “We keep losing volunteers because they have other commitments. So we’re always looking out for new recruits.”

“You don’t have to be the best programmer in the world. You just need to know more than the kids, so you can teach them.”

For information on Code Club Docklands or if you’d be interested in become a volunteer trainer for Code Club, go to: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/community/libraries/whats-on/technology/Pages/code-club-library-at-the-dock.aspx

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