IT2School: free IT education for schoolchildren

UPDATE: The project successfully raised funds. Read the progress report via this link. The school continues teaching children programming secrets.

IT2School is a community of IT professionals and educators that now includes over 50 people in Odesa and the region.

We teach school-age children programming skills and modern technologies for free. We use CodeClubUA programs and our teachers' developments for instruction.

For us, programming is as important a skill as reading and writing. We don't expect all our students to grow up and become programmers. We like the idea of Mitch Resnick, the "father" of the Scratch platform, that children go to school to learn writing not to become professional writers. They'll grow up to be teachers, doctors, administrators who can use these skills to automate routine work and have more opportunities for communication and experimentation.

Some of our students will choose IT as their professional development direction. This will be a win-win option: the labor market in this field desperately needs qualified personnel. We understand we don't provide fundamental and comprehensive knowledge, but it's important for us to spark curiosity and fuel motivation.

Each children's course lasts 2-3 months. Classes are held once a week for an hour. We currently offer these directions:

= Scratch (animation and games)

= HTML/CSS (website creation)

= Python (programming)

= Web design (design basics for website creation)

= Prezi (presentation creation (PowerPoint alternative)

We start group enrollment twice a year: in September and January. At the end of each semester we plan to hold a general celebration where children can voluntarily show what they've learned.

Our teachers are IT company specialists, most often programmers. They participate as volunteers. It's important for them to share their knowledge.

We launched the first groups in September 2015. By May 2016, 15 groups had graduated.

From September to December 2016, we opened 25 more groups. Our goal is to open at least 50 groups by the end of the school year. All classes are taught by volunteer IT company workers.

In September 2016, we registered a non-profit public organization to have official status and attract funding. We want to continue developing a community interested in creating educational content and new forms of learning in information technology.

For this learning cycle (January-June 2017), we need financial support to ensure gamification of the learning process and conduct the final event.

Detailed budget with explanations at the link: Project Budget

Project video:

Modern children use gadgets to watch cartoons and play. The virtual world becomes more interesting than reality for some, and many parents complain they can't tear children away from gadgets.

Depriving children of digital devices is unwise and difficult. The world is becoming digital and it's important to know how to use phones and tablets to feel like a full participant in our new digital society. Often parents don't know what to offer children as an alternative.

School curricula adapt to changes, but technology changes so fast that the slow education system struggles to keep up.

IT2School is a community of IT professionals and educators that now includes over 50 people in Odesa and the region.

We teach school-age children programming skills and modern technologies for free. We use CodeClubUA programs and our teachers' developments for instruction.

For us, programming is as important a skill as reading and writing. We don't expect all our students to grow up and become programmers. We like the idea of Mitch Resnick, the "father" of the Scratch platform, that children go to school to learn writing not to become professional writers. They'll grow up to be teachers, doctors, administrators who can use these skills to automate routine work and have more opportunities for communication and experimentation.

Some of our students will choose IT as their professional development direction. This will be a win-win option: the labor market desperately needs qualified personnel. We understand we don't provide fundamental knowledge, but it's important to spark curiosity and fuel motivation.

Each children's course lasts 2-3 months. Classes are held once a week for an hour. We currently offer these directions:

= Scratch (animation and games)

= HTML/CSS (website creation)

= Python (programming)

= Web design (design basics for website creation)

= Prezi (presentation creation (PowerPoint alternative)

We start group enrollment twice a year: in September and January. At the end of each semester we plan to hold a general celebration where children can voluntarily show what they've learned.

Our teachers are IT company specialists, most often programmers. They participate as volunteers. It's important for them to share their knowledge.