Since 2017, Saturday Kids has managed Code in the Community (CITC) – a large-scale free multi-level coding programme for disadvantaged kids.

With the help of public and private partners — including Google and Infocomm Media Development Agency (IMDA) — and over 1000 committed volunteers, we’ve reached over 3500 kids from disadvantaged families in Singapore.

The programme was delivered virtually aligned to the SMMs in the past year, but with the ease of restrictions in early 2022, we brought back the face-to-face course for Scratch and Python Level 2 classes which require hardware uses. While the online classes enabled learning continuity of CITC students during the pandemic, we are happy to bring back the face-to-face course through continued partnership with the National Library Board. 

In the video, we asked Code in the Community students and volunteers what they like about Code in the Community! 

Take a look at what they have said… 

Big thanks to all the students and volunteers who joined us and shared their answers!

The post What do you like about Code in the Community? appeared first on Saturday Kids | Coding, Digital Literacy for Kids & Parents.

Code in the Community students, volunteers, parents as well as current and future partners gathered at Google APAC office on 23 May to celebrate the impact the programme made to date and to look ahead at the future of the programme. The event was organised by Saturday Kids, Google, Infocomm Media Development Agency (IMDA), in support of Digital for Life, and graced by the Guest of Honour, Ms. Rahayu Mahzam, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Communications and Information and Ministry of Health.* 

With the help of public and private partners — including Google and IMDA — and over 1000 committed volunteers, CITC 1.0 (2017-2019) and CITC 2.0 (2020-2022) reached over 3500 kids from disadvantaged families in Singapore. As the CITC 2.0 programme is near completion, we are at a critical junction to call on partners across sectors to join forces to sustain and scale the essential learning opportunities for Singaporean children in need in coming years through CITC 3.0 (2023-2026). The demand for the programme has grown over time, evident from the enrolment waitlist as well as the number of partners engaged in the programme.

During the event, Neha Agarwal, CITC volunteer and Vice President at Citibank Singapore emphasised that “CITC imparts kids with programming skills but more than that it gives them hope. The hope for a bright future by giving them the experience of joy of technology.” 

To date, the programme has impacted the lives of thousands of CITC students in unique ways. Zia, who has been taking CITC Scratch and Python classes, shared that the programme sparked her interest in coding, and she now leads a robotics club at her school. Ian, another CITC student said the programme guided his decision to apply for School of Science and Technology as well as helped strengthen his portfolio needed for Direct School Admission for secondary school.

The student project exhibition exemplified not only the new skills the students gained through the programme but also their creativity, problem-solving skills, resilience and growth mindset which are all crucial to thrive in the rapidly changing 21st Century world we live in. 

Anthony, one of the students who exhibited the projects at the event, shared about a fall detection and notification tool, “XtraCare”, developed to give caretakers the ability to tend to and support the elderly when they fall or need support. 

In the partnership panel discussion, John Tan, Founder and Chairman of Saturday Kids, noted “What’s really important is that CITC is a platform for everyone to come together to provide kids with learning opportunities. It goes far beyond learning to code. The ability to learn how to learn, learning agility, is far more important.” 

Through CITC, Saturday Kids aims to realise a world where every kid is empowered with skills and mindset to purposefully apply the potential of technology to shape a better future.

Looking ahead to 2023 and more, Saturday Kids is seeking partners from the public and private sector, as well as community organisations to join forces to continue on with Code in the Community 3.0 to respond to the growing demand of the programme.

Reach out to Code in the Community at [email protected] for more information on how your organisation can join the CITC movement. 

Watch the highlight video from the event:

*Ms Rahayu Mahzam was promoted to Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Health and Ministry of Law in June 2022.

The post Celebrating Code in the Community and Looking Ahead Towards the 10th Anniversary appeared first on Saturday Kids | Coding, Digital Literacy for Kids & Parents.

Zia is a Secondary 4 student who has been part of Code in the Community’s Scratch and Python programme. Beyond her learning at CITC, Zia serves as a captain of a robotics club at her school to continue her learning journey and pursue her interests in technology.

What did you find difficult in the CITC class and how were you able to overcome the challenges?

When working on my project, I wanted to include a lot of information in the tool I was coding, so the users find it helpful. I knew I didn’t want to overwhelm them but at the same time, I didn’t want to include too little information that users can’t learn anything new. Hence my challenge was to decide what information is essential and effectively paraphrase the information in a way that users can understand and learn from. 

Aside from this, another challenge was to identify the errors in the code. Software can help identify the line where the error is located, but we need to look further as each line consists of many codes. This means we need to look at each item we typed. This is quite troublesome, and it can be frustrating for me. 

So to overcome these challenges, I thought of some solutions and tried them out. 

Firstly, I put myself in the shoes of the user and see which part of the information will actually help me if I were a user. So I kept the part of the information and excluded the part that was not as helpful. 

Secondly, I learned that feeling frustrated when looking for the errors makes it harder to find the errors, so I learned to remain patient. And if I really cannot find the error, I learned to ask for help from instructors. They have also helped me improve my coding skills overall by giving me tips and advice.

Ian is a Secondary 1 student who has been part of Code in the Community’s Scratch and Python programme. Prior to CITC, Ian didn’t have any other sustained training in STEM but the programme planted the seed of love for STEM in him, guiding his decision to apply to School of Science and Technology.

Are there any learnings from CITC which helped you in school and life? 

To be accepted to SST, we need to apply through Direct School Admission for secondary schools which requires a portfolio. Code In the Community helped build my portfolio and establish the foundation of coding, which is part of STEM, the DSA domain I wanted to apply for. After learning the basics of coding through CITC Scratch class (block-based language), I was able to learn other coding languages such as Python and other micro-computers so I can add more to the portfolio. 

At school, we are also learning to code but not all my classmates know about block-based coding so this has given me a head start in the class too!

I also want to mention that Code in the Community has a final project and we need to present the project to the class. We are asked to think about a project that will apply different coding concepts learned. It requires a lot of patience and perseverance to get the code to successfully work. And presentation skill has helped me a lot in school.  

Truman is a Secondary 2 student who has been part of CITC Python programme. He has been an eager CITC student travelling even to a class that is far from his home so that he can continue his learning! 

What would you like to say to future CITC students?

When you first start coding, without prior knowledge, you will find it tough and challenging, and extremely confusing because these are all very new concepts.

But reflecting on my experience, including the time I could not really understand anything at all, if you take your learning pace at a slower speed, you will definitely have fun in learning this [coding].

This will definitely impact your life as now your knowledge about technology has increased. I think the CITC programme is useful because the knowledge and understanding about coding and technology will help you in the long-run as technology is always advancing at a fast pace. 

CITC students with Guest of Honour, Ms. Rahayu Mahzam, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Communication and Information, Ministry of Health*

*Ms Rahayu Mahzam was promoted to Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Health and Ministry of Law in June 2022.

The post Voices of CITC Students: the Impact of the Programme on their Lives appeared first on Saturday Kids | Coding, Digital Literacy for Kids & Parents.

It takes a village to democratise digital literacy. Code in the Community – large-scale free coding programme for disadvantaged kids – is only possible because of a community of volunteers from all walks of life who give their time and talent to teach kids from under-privileged backgrounds about the world of code.

Get to know some of ’em in this series – we hope their stories inspire you as much as they inspire us.

Could you introduce yourself?

Hi, my name is Valerie. I’m a graduating Information Systems student from Singapore Management University (SMU) and a volunteer at Code in the Community (CITC)!

What was your experience in school like?

My experience at SMU was enriching as SMU doesn’t only focus on education, they also encourage us to seek global exposure, career development, internship, and community service. 

In my time at SMU, I made new friends, worked on different projects (including real-world projects), attended career development workshops, completed two internships and did at least eighty hours of community service. I got to take away lots of valuable knowledge and exposure that’s shaping my capabilities. 

What got you interested in education for kids?

During my second semester in polytechnic, I took a compulsory module called Computer Programming for Problem Solving – this was my first encounter with programming.

I enjoyed it, but also wished that I’d been exposed to programming at a younger age. So, I thought that it would be good if I could introduce it to kids. Who knows, they might like it too! 

What led you to Code in the Community?

I found Code in the Community while searching online for volunteer work related to programming, and decided to give it a try! After submitting my Scratch project as part of the application and going through volunteer training, I was assigned a class. But just as I was all ready and excited to kick start my volunteering journey, COVID-19 hit and CITC classes were cancelled. But thankfully, CITC quickly pivoted and shifted online soon after. 

How has your experience been so far?

To date, I’ve completed three cycles of Code in the Community and it’s been great!

My first run was definitely nerve-racking as it was my first time being an instructor, but the training provided helped to prepare me for the role.

Because classes were conducted online, it can be challenging to ensure that all the students are engaged because I can’t see their screens. So I need to check in on them regularly to make sure they’re keeping up.

After they get more comfortable, the class can be quite interactive, and I really like it. It makes me happy when they ask questions or share other methods that they have found – I always emphasize that there is no one right way to do something and this shows that they are exploring and learning at the same time. 

Despite the convenience of online classes, I want to experience conducting a physical class one day so that I get to see them face-to-face. 

What do you hope for your CITC kids?

I hope that through programming, my CITC kids can pick up problem-solving skills, build resilience, and develop creativity because coding is full of challenges. It teaches them to look at the problems from different perspectives and to use their creativity to come up with different possible solutions. 

That being said, I also hope that they can tune into a growth mindset because it gives them the power to believe that their abilities can be developed or improved through dedication and hard work. But they will have to understand that effort does not equal outcome and the outcome might not always be what they wanted or expected. That’s to say: instead of focusing only on the outcome, it’s important to also focus on the process and enjoy the learning journey.

What would you like to say to future CITC volunteers?

Join us and you will have a blast! CITC is not only a good opportunity for kids to be exposed and gain hands-on experience with programming, it is also a great opportunity for yourself to pick up new skills or build upon the ones that you already have. So don’t worry if you have no programming background or already have experience in programming. Just be yourself, enjoy the process and remember you can make a difference.

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