What is CoderDojo?

CoderDojo is an open source, volunteer led movement orientated around running free not-for-profit coding clubs (Dojos) for young people. Since CoderDojo is an open source movement, are different and completely autonomous! Dojos are set up, run by and led by volunteers.

At a Dojo, young people between 7 and 17 learn how to code, develop websites, apps, programs, games and much more. In addition to learning to code, members meet like minded people, show off what they’ve been working on and so on. CoderDojo makes development and learning to code a fun, sociable and awesome experience. CoderDojo also puts a strong emphasis on open source and free software, and has a strong network of members and volunteers globally. CoderDojo has just one rule: “Above All: Be Cool“, bullying, lying, wasting people’s time and so on is uncool. To join a CoderDojo, please find your nearest one from this list, or help set one up one

A bit of history

CoderDojo is a non profit global movement founded by James Whelton and Bill Liao. It all started in James Whelton’s school in early 2011 when James (then 18 year-old coder) received some publicity after hacking the iPod Nano and as a result some younger students expressed an interest in learning how to code. He set up a computer club in his school (PBC Cork) where he started teaching students basic HTML and CSS. Later that year he met Bill Liao, a entrepreneur and philanthropist, who was interested in growing the project into something bigger. In June 2011 the first CoderDojo was launched in the National Software Centre in Cork which saw extreme success. The Cork Dojo even saw people travelling from Dublin frequently to attend sessions. Owing to this popularity a Dublin Dojo was launched soon after in Google’s Montevetro building. By making the movement open source it has led to hundreds of dedicated champions setting up more Dojos around Ireland and the CoderDojo movement has grown to become a global phenomenon!