Educators And Students Knock The Third Annual #clcWeek Out Of The Park

Our third annual Canada Learning Code Week was an exciting one! We challenged Canada to take action and make an impact using technology. We empowered 3,931 educators to teach coding in their classroom or extracurricular program from coast-to-coast-to-coast, hosted 7 signature events across the country and partnered up with incredible sponsors (shout out to Government of Canada, Amazon and Chevrolet). 

“#clcWeek is significant to me and to Amazon as it focuses on making coding accessible and fun for everyone. Amazon is committed to making sure more students have the resources and skills they need to build their best future, and we know coding will be a big part of that!”- Mabel Lee, Sr. Software Development Engineer, Amazon Toronto

AND, December 9-15 was proclaimed as Canada Learning Code Week in Calgary and Iqaluit! We also got some cool recognition from the Prime Minister himself, Justin Trudeau! 

We’re delighted to see the amazing ideas students came up with when thinking about how they could take action to build a better world. With over 200,000 students rising to the challenge, the future of Canada is bright!

Our stellar educators also took on a challenge of their own: 63% of educators shared that they were teaching coding for the very first time! And, some educators taught multiple classes all at once – like our signature event educators.

“My favourite part of the experience was the conversations that happened after the workshop. Most of our students are not caucasian, and the concept of algorithmic bias really hit home with them. On the way home, some students talked about how they had trouble getting taps to turn on because the sensor did not recognize their dark skin, so their mom would ask a paler person to activate the tap for them. […] After the CLC lessons, they seemed to realize that real people were behind these situations, and that something could be done to change things. Discussions about how we could change things began, who could we contact, who do we complain to, etc. are still happening in pockets of the classroom. Having a lesson resonate so personally with my students is so exciting!” – Diana H., Toronto Educator

“…I’ve always loved using technology in the classroom, and this event introduced me to a lot of new tools and strategies. I feel more confident helping students learn through digital literacy, and I believe my students feel more confident using technology!

It was incredible to see how excited the students were to use ScratchJr even at such a young age [5-7 years old]. They absolutely loved it which made teaching such a large group that much easier! I also found that the CLC mentors were ready and eager to help so I didn’t feel like I was on my own and I definitely had the support I needed to feel prepared!” – Lindsay W., Calgary Educator

Thank you to all of the amazing educators who helped bring #clcWeek to life! We had over 200 submissions to our contest and to wrap up this exciting initiative, we’re thrilled to announce this year’s #clcWeek contest winners: 

Continue your learning journey by joining our Teachers Learning Code Community on Facebook! This is your space to share and receive: tips and tricks on teaching coding in your classroom or extracurricular program, helpful resources and #MagicMoments!