By Bryony Aujla | Grants Manager
Dear Friend,
I hope this message finds you well.
Technology is changing our world, and we believe that every young person deserves the chance to shape this. Generous donors like you make this possible.
Since our last update to you, our annual technology showcase, Coolest Projects 2021, took place online for the second time. We had phenomenal engagement from 1,385 passionate young makers who submitted 1,168 technology projects, from 47 countries! With the support of CoderDojo volunteers, over 60% of projects were submitted by young people from our coding clubs (CoderDojo and Code Club).
Ninjas from far and wide submitted their COOL creations - we’re so excited to share what we’ve been up to and showcase some of these projects with you.
CoderDojo creations
Our CoderDojo club volunteers have been instrumental in engaging and supporting young people to take their projects from idea to creation, encouraging them to create things which are meaningful to them. We’ve been working alongside our clubs all over the world with 1-1 support, workshops and webinars such as ‘How to design projects with young people’ to provide spaces for learning, ‘top tips’ and sharing of best practice.
A special shout-out this year goes to our Indian community who took part. Alongside our local community partners in India, we delivered live streams, 1-1 sessions and webinars to bring the community together and help young people to create their projects. It’s been incredible to see 651 young people submit projects from India!
Favourites
As part of the showcase, our VIP Judges scored their favorite projects based on four key areas: Coolness, Complexity, Presentation & Communication, and Design & Usability. 24 favourites were announced via a celebratory global live stream on June 8th.
Favourites included Arvin’s incredible ‘Backyard Squirrel Detection System’ which utilizes machine learning and the Raspberry Pi (USA) to detect squirrels, Yuvati’s search platform called Hospito, designed to help local people find their nearest Hospital (India), and Althafazrais’ Mars Rover Simulator, a game that introduces players to the NASA mission to Mars! (Indonesia).
We are blown away by the array of creativity and skill. You can view the amazing array of 2021 projects in our showcase (link at end of report).
Social good
We love seeing how young people create projects which respond to local challenges. An amazing 310 projects were focussed on solving problems that impact young people personally in their communities or the environment, including Archit’s (India) Cap for the Blind project. Using sensor technology, Archit designed and created a hat which helps those with impaired vision to navigate their surroundings. Other judges’ favorites for social good include Vivien’s (USA) Earthquake Early Warning Detector.
Looking ahead
We’re so grateful for our CoderDojo community support and engagement in Coolest Projects during a time of continued disruption to in-person clubs. As restrictions evolve we are staying close to our community to listen and respond with focussed support. We’re developing new resources, delivering a series of online support, and have our sights set on planning for Coolest Projects 2022.
Thanks for helping us to keep our CoderDojo community coding!
Wishing you all the best,
Bryony
See the full showcase of COOL projects here https://online.coolestprojects.org/events/cp-2021/gallery
Links:
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