CoderDojo, the Irish software mentoring initiative for primary and second level students, has established another international branch, this time in Silicon Valley at Microsoft’s office in Mountain View, California.
The not-for-profit organisation staffed by volunteer ‘mentors’ was founded by Cork native James Whelton and is supported by Xing co-founder and entrepreneur Bill Liao.
The first CoderDojo was launched at the National Software Centre in Cork last June and has since spread across the world, with branches opening in 130 locations, including the UK, US, Europe, India and Japan.
Whelton said: "When we founded in 2011, we had 40 students show up to the first session, which grew over time. Basic programming and web development was taught, students were taught by other students who’d grasped things faster than others and it was an extremely lively environment."
Along with Microsoft a number of high profile tech companies have lent their support to the clubs, including Google, Twitter, McAfee and Big Fish Games.
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