Coding Week FAQ

The David and Joyce Milne Public Library is hosting a Coding Week series starting on Monday, July 22nd for 5th-8th graders who want to learn about computers and technology! There will be an introductory session on Monday, July 22nd followed by two 2-day events on July 23rd-24th and July 25th-26th, respectively. The first 2-day event will be Code Your Own Jeopardy, where kids will learn the basics of building a website to create their own game of Jeopardy. The second 2-day event on July 25th-26th will be Minecraft and Modding for those who have an interest in Minecraft and would like to engage with it more deeply. Playing Minecraft is one thing, but downloading and creating modifications to the game takes non-trivial knowledge of computers, how they work, and best practices for safety; this is why we are offering these sessions. Kids will learn how to modify Minecraft and learn about computer organization (how files are organized in an operating system like macOS or Windows) and how to navigate the files stored on a computer.

• Why coding?

  • In the today's day and age, computers are everywhere. They are in our pockets, backpacks, cars, and even microwaves. Learning about how computers work can provide a clarity that is essential to navigating things like AI, online safety, and even troubleshooting problems like "my computer isn't doing what I want it to do!". Technology isn't perfect, and never will be, so it is important that people know about what it can and can't do to avoid becoming overwhelmed or disillusioned by it, because it can benefit the way we live our lives immensely! Coding is the language that computers understand, and learning this language can help us understand them better like learning foreign languages can help us understand their native speakers on a deeper level.

• What will my child do in this program?

  • Your child will have the opportunity to engage with exercises and hands-on projects that will kickstart their learning on computers and coding! Specific exercises depend on what days your child is signed up for. For instance, during the Minecraft modding days we will focus on computer organization and the file system, whereas during the Code Your Own Jeopardy event, we might focus more on the interactions between different computers and coding websites. Our goal is to have the projects be a chance to solidify the learning of the information we will introduce kids to, whether that be what an algorithm is or what "the cloud" is. For the first day, we will mainly be engaging with Kahoot-style exercises on things like binary or finding a bug in code to motivate learning. For the Code Your Own Jeopardy event, we will code our own Jeopardy games that can be put on the internet using HTML/CSS, design our own questions, and play the games when they are finished. For the Minecraft Modding event, we will learn how to modify Minecraft to include functionality that wasn't coded into the original game, like making it look different.

• Why is there an age limit?

  • Learning about computers is to take off on a life-long journey as there are so many things to be learned about how they work and interact. The purpose of these events is to help start this journey by guiding kids through (possibly) their first deeper dive into the workings of a computer past what we usually get to interact with on a day to day basis. This means we will peel back a layer of abstraction, and potentially engage with algebra, working with variables, abstract concepts like "the cloud", and binary (1010101010011). For this reason, kids must be independent readers and able to understand written directions to join.

• What if the day my child wants is full?

  • Please sign them up for that day's waitlist! It is not guaranteed that a spot will open up, but being on the waitlist lets us know that your child is still interested in joining so we could reach out if and when a spot becomes available. Otherwise, we have other opportunities throughout the week to learn about computers, and they could be found on our events calendar.

• What if I have multiple kids who are interested participating in an event?

  • You can sign them all up as long as there is still space in the course! You can do this by submitting multiple sign-up forms with different information for each kid.

• Can my child sign-up for more than one day?

  • Your child can sign up for one day, the whole week, or any combination of events! We have designed the offerings so that they build on different skills and areas, so even if your child cannot attend one event, that they will indeed be able to attend following events. There is one caveat: we have designed the Code Your Own Jeopardy event and the Minecraft Mods and Tech events to be 2 day events, so that would mean attending both days for your child.

• What happens if my child can't make it to an event anymore?

  • No worries at all! We just ask that you reach out to us at your earliest convenience letting us know that your child won't be able to make it anymore. This allows us to offer someone else a spot if the event has been overenrolled. You do not have to take any other action!

  • You can reach us by dropping into library to talk to us in person or by emailing dgutierrez@cwmars.org or smithe@cwmars.org.

• Do parents need to stay?

  • Parents do not need to stay with their children.

  • However, if your child is signed up for the Minecraft Modding session and does not currently own Minecraft, you and your child will have to come in at 9:30am (as opposed to the regular 10am start time) to set up a Minecraft account. This will only be for the first day of this event (July 25th), and after their account has been set up, you are free to go!

• Who can I turn to with more questions prior to the event?

  • You can drop into the library and talk to us in person, send an email to Douglas Pineda Gutierrez at dgutierrez@cwmars.org, or send an email to Ella Smith at smithe@cwmars.org with your inquiries!