Cool way to learn programming — CoderDojo club starting in Salinas - Monterey County Herald

CoderDojo doesn't necessarily roll off the tongue. Neither do HTML, CSS or even JavaScript.

But by the time students earn their black badge, they'll be fluent in them all.

An international idea spreading faster than a cute kitty video has arrived at Salinas, where a CoderDojo is set to hold its first meeting Saturday.

Like a martial arts studio, a CoderDojo is a place where people come to learn and challenge each other in a respectful manner.

They also learn to code.

Like in CoderDojos all over the world, the Salinas one will be open to children ages 8 to 17 who want to learn programming language — how to make web pages and apps, how to produce content.

"The most challenging part is to have the time and patience and the curriculum to teach children as young as 8 years old," said Ricardo Garcia, one of the CoderDojo's organizers.

"It's an opportunity for everyone to come together and learn together. It's not a class, but a club. We can share our insights with each other and ultimately help the youngsters."

James Whelton, a tech whiz kid, is said to have founded the CoderDojos in Ireland. His computer club earned the attention of Australian entrepreneur Bill Liao, and together they launched the nonprofit CoderDojo.com. The first club was launched last year, and now there are about 120 CoderDojos in the world, including 25 in the United States and 42 in Ireland.

Just like in a martial arts club,

people who participate earn badges and, later, belts. The main organizers are called "champions."

Appropriate to its target audience, the clubs' first and foremost goal is to be cool.

CoderDojo already has a major success story, saidthe Irish Press: Harry Moran, a 12-year-old from Cork County in Ireland, was certified as the world's youngest app developer for the game he developed, "PizzaBot."

Garland Thompson, program manager at the Salinas Public Library, believes Salinas is a natural place for a CoderDojo because of its proximity to Silicon Valley.

"They'll need 100,000 to 150,000 computer engineers over the next five years," Thompson said. "We have a very young population ... and we have a lot of very talented young people who don't have as many educational opportunities in the area as they should. This is an opportunity to tap into the need for education technology, to allow kids to be not only consumers but creators."

As part of the concept of CoderDojos, students also go on field trips and invite speakers from major technology firms. Five local coders will be taken to the Los Angeles CoderDojo, which meets about every month at Google.

"We've gotten a great response from the community," said Shara Karasic, online community marketer and organizer of the Los Angeles Dojo, which launched in June. "We have a limit because of Google, but the last event had 70 people, including parents who come with children under 13."

Salinas' CoderDojo, a partnership with the city and Hartnell College, will meet at the college's Alisal Campus beginning Saturday.

"We'd like to see as many kids as possible. Wouldn't it be great if we had more kids than we thought we can handle?" Garland said. "We're discussing setting more than one CoderDojo, quite possibly in other parts of the city."

Claudia Meléndez Salinas can be reached at 753-6755 or cmelendez@montereyherald.com.

If you go

·What:CoderDojo

·When:First class is 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday

·Where:Hartnell College's Alisal campus, Room C205, 1752 E. Alisal St., Salinas

·Information:To learn more about CoderDojos, see coderdojo.com