Ally Watson co-founded Code like a Girl after experiencing first-hand the barriers women have in the male-dominated computer science and developer industry. Code like a Girl aims to change the playing field, with a strong focus on mentoring girls in coding and computational thinking in a creative environment that sparks a love of logic and leadership.  

“We tell them, this what a programmer is, this is what it looks like and this is my story. So, these girls a heading home and getting inspired by the women who facilitate these sessions and they’re saying …Mum, Dad, I want to be a coder when I grow up!” 

After chatting with Ally Watson, we also look at ways you can teach about robotics without having a robot or a computer plus we revisit a grab from a past episode in which Neil Bramsen talks about his approach for teaching primary students about logical reasoning.

Hosted by Ben Newsome from Fizzics Education  

Top 3 learnings

Get involved! Coding is about getting your mind wrapped around creatively solving a logic challenge. There are plenty of opportunities to join a coding group, you just have to join the fun. 

It’s the story that matters. It’s just as important for kids to know why coding is important as it is to know how to program a given task. 

Coding is part of our future. Even if you know that you may not become a software developer, it is just as important to learn how these machines function as they are becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society.

Contact details for Ally Watson  
https://codelikeagirl.org
https://twitter.com/codelikeagirlAU

Education tip: 
Teach coding without a robot or computer 
https://goo.gl/aHmWPd   

Contact Fizzics Education

Web: http://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/ 
Phone: +612 9674 2191

STEM Teaching support resources 

NEW Primary STEM teaching book!  http://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/be+amazing+book.html 

>100 Free Science Experiments  http://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/Free+experiments.html 

>100 Free Science Ideas and Tips http://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/Blog.html

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Ep. 26 Code like a Girl

Fizzics Education exists to deliver engaging science to any audience, anywhere!

We've been a leading Australian provider of interactive science workshops and shows since 2004, delivering inspiring science programs to approximately 300,000 children each year via incursion and video conference across 400 schools and public spaces throughout Australia and around the world. Our science presentations are run in schools and in non-traditional environments such as movie cinemas, shopping centers, libraries, juvenile justice centers, hospitals, park lands, sports stadiums, retirement homes, university theaters and any other facility able to accommodate large or small groups of people.