Over the past years, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has popularized the use of its credit card-sized computer board to enable students to develop their coding skills and build DIY technology projects. It is now looking to further this initiative by merging forces with the Dublin-based coding foundation — CoderDojo. It is presently being described as the largest global effort to get the young generation acquainted with the latest computing and digital technologies.
Commenting on the merger, Philip Colligan, chief executive, Raspberry Pi Foundation said:
CoderDojo is one of the most important global movements to help young people learn how to get creative with technology. I’ve seen first hand the enormous impact that CoderDojo has had already, and I am thrilled that we’re joining forces to bring the power of computing and digital making to even more young people.
For those unaware of CoderDojo, it is also a community-led organization started by co-founders James Whelton and Bill Liao back in 2011. It was birthed with the primary objective of building an environment where young students, ranging between 7 to 17, could come together to acquire programming skills and learn from each other. It has since ballooned into a mentor-led community, which includes around 1,250 CoderDojos in 69 countries serving more than 35,000 coders.
Raspberry Pi Foundation not only provides developers with mini-computing boards or required software support, it is also known for its charitable community efforts. It provides resources to teachers who’re interested in imparting their coding knowledge to the younger generation (in the age group of nine to thirteen) and runs an initiative called Code Club to do the same itself. It is attended by more than 150,000 kids per week.
And it is now looking to build upon the same with its merger with the CoderDojo organization, where they will not only support one another financially but also share practical knowledge with each other. This fresh partnership has now led them to quadruple their ambitious goal to 5,000 CoderDojos globally by the end of 2020. The two foundations will continue to operate on independently but amalgamate resources to reach a wider audience.
James Whelton believes this partnership further propels the organization’s founding vision and also:
the mission of providing the opportunity of learning to code to young people. Together we will better serve CoderDojo and the incredible impact it has on young people all around the world.
Earlier this year, the organization revealed that it has managed to sell more than 12.5 million of these Raspberry Pi boards since its inception. It has even partnered with tech bigwigs, such as Google and VMWare to propel its reach to even more developers. You’re now also provided DIY board kits that can not only enable to hone your coding skills but also have fun — build an affordable version of Google Home.
