We have had a few questions about our upcoming sessions which we are happy to answer, here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

Do I need to book a place?

No, we don’t ask anyone to book places, due to the generosity of Clarin College we have plenty of space for everyone.

How long are the sessions?

Generally, our sessions are two hours long, the Explorers group with the younger children usually finishes up a little earlier.

How do I decide which group I should join?

Ninjas usually start with the Explorers group and then move on to Advancers, then to Bodgers, then to Modellers and then finally Hackers. But if kids have some experience of coding or if they’re a little bit older they can start with one of the more advanced groups. I recommend speaking to the Mentors of the groups you are interested in joining and then trying one of them out for a while, you can always move to a different group if you are not happy.

What do I need to bring along?

A laptop if you have one, if not we have a limited number of loaner laptops available.

An extension lead, there may not be a plug within easy reach of your desk.

How much does it cost?

As all our Mentors at CoderDojo Athenry are volunteers and as Clarin College allow us use of the school free of charge all our sessions are completely free.

What can I do to help?

There are several ways to help out at CoderDojo Athenry:

• By just coming along you are already helping us, as our main aim is to get kids interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and to give kids who are interested in STEM somewhere to meet and hangout with kids with similar interests.
• Help with mentoring, do you have any tech skills? If you have any experience with Scratch, Python or Blender you may be able to help with one of the existing groups or you may wish to start a new group covering some other type of technology.
• Help with admin, we are always looking for help with running the Dojo.
• Visits to CoderDojo Athenry, does you employer have a community outreach programme where they would be interested in visiting us? Do you know anyone working in a STEM related field who you think our Ninjas would be interested in hearing from?
• Fundraising, do you know anyone who would be interested in sponsoring CoderDojo Athenry?

If you are interested in helping out talk to any of the Mentors.

CoderDojo Athenry is returning with our weekly sessions in Clarin College starting Saturday 26 March 2022.

Our sessions will take place between 1:00pm and 3:00pm.

We will run our regular Explorers, Advancers, Bodgers, Modellers and Hackers groups.

There is more information about the groups and everything else on our About page.

New members are always welcome. If you are aged between 7 and 17, just come along on the first day and fill out a registration form. Young people aged 12 and under have to be accompanied by a parent/guardian for the whole session.

And don’t forget, CoderDojo Athenry is run by volunteers and is completely free for participants — no membership fees, no weekly contributions.

You should bring a laptop if you have one, but we have some loaner laptops if you don’t.

Lily Surface Scraper:

https://github.com/eliemichel/LilySurfaceScraper/releases/download/v1.6.0/LilySurfaceScraper-v1.6.1.zip

Desert Island:

Files for 23/01/21

Using Teams

We are using Microsoft Teams. Each week, we will post links on the CoderDojo Athenry website and Facebook. Here is are the links for 21 November: Information and Links for week 2 | CoderDojo Athenry

When you are using Teams, please keep your microphone off unless you need to ask a question. You can have your webcam on or off, whichever you prefer.

Here are the main buttons you might need:

Two Screens

It is much easier to follow the session if you have two screens, one for the Teams window and one for your own code. Here are two ways to do this:

1. If your laptop has a HDMI port, you could connect it to a TV with a HDMI cable, or you could connect a spare computer monitor if you have one. Then press Windows and P, and select Extend. Then you can have different windows in each screen.
2. You could use your laptop for your own code, and connect to the Teams session with a separate phone or tablet.

Asking Questions

As well as the main mentor leading the Teams session, we have other mentors who can answer your questions at any time.

Either: press the Chat button and type your question

Or: press the Raise Hand button and wait for the mentor

If Chat Does Not Work

If you get an error when you try to press the Chat button, it might be because you are logged into a work or school Teams account that has chat restrictions. If so, here is a solution:

• Press Leave to leave the CoderDojo session
• Sign out of Teams – click on your picture in the top right corner to open a menu, and Sign Out is at the bottom of the menu
• Click on the link to join the CoderDojo session again, and this time join as a guest without logging into your school/work account.