In October, over 1,200 children and parents visited Moldovan public libraries to participate in interactive #SuperCoders workshops – a program launched internationally by Orange Foundation and transformed in a national initiative by Orange Moldova, the biggest internet service provider in the country, which has engaged public libraries to bring people closer to the digital revolution. To meet society’s expectations and help create a digital world full of opportunities, the Orange Group created the #SuperCoders project and implemented it in 17 countries around the world.
The regional events hosted by 37 national, municipal, raion and town libraries across the country throughout the month offered children the opportunity to gain new programming and digital security skills and express their creativity in a fun and interactive environment. Guided by trained IT teachers, children explored the world of coding and learned how to create their own animations and games using the Scratch platform. The application proved to be an interesting and user-friendly option on which to learn coding principles, and schools across Moldova are beginning to use it as a replacement for the outdated tools applied in IT classes.
“It was a very interesting activity. We created colorful characters and images, and designed a ‘house full of sweets’,” mentioned Carmen Armeanu, a young participant at the #SuperCoders workshop at Cantemir Public Library.
Parents and tutors joined their kids on this exciting coding adventure, learning from trained librarians about the challenges of the virtual world and practical ensure children’s online security and protection of personal data. Cyberbullying protection measures, parent control applications and programs, social media privacy settings were only a few of the most popular questions addressed by parents. Librarians trained parents how to set strong passwords, manage multiple accounts, recognize spam messages, and help their children protect their data and recognize bad actions or potential abusers online.
“This training helped me understand that prohibition of access to internet is not an option. We should talk to our children and teach them how to protect themselves in the online environment,” highlighted one of the parents participating at the #SuperCoders workshop.
The success of these trainings determined some librarians to continue to provide coding trainings on a regular basis in their libraries and contribute to the early IT education and digital inclusion of young patrons.
“If previously parents were concerned about their children’s safety while playing outside with neighbor kids, nowadays they become more and more aware of the importance of ensuring online security for their children and preventing possible threats,” pointed out library director Nadejda Padure, Straseni Raion Public library.
95.8% of the Novateca #SuperCoders regional events post-evaluation survey respondents ranked librarians’ trainings in online security as being above average or very good and encouraged librarians to continue these trainings and raise awareness about online security in local schools, as well.
The survey also showed that 87.5% of librarians who hosted the events found these workshops to be a great opportunity to motivate users to visit the library more often and attract new users by offering them the opportunity to develop advanced IT skills and spend time with their families. Librarians also showed eager to extend their libraries’ service offer and organize more educational and social events for community members, in order to increase library visibility and attract new partners.
Following the regional #SuperCoders events, over 80% of the participant libraries committed to install an offline version of Scratch to all library computers and offer free access to the public. The workshops convinced 38% of the libraries to initiate a modern library service for children on Scratch programming, while other 33% showed an increased interest in developing a modern library service on cyber security that targets adults.
This partnership and event series offered the opportunity for libraries to continue to evolve and offer tangible benefits for children and adults, contributing to the IT skills of the new generation, and educating parents how to ensure the online security of their children. It also showed that libraries can partner with private sector entities to offer attractive services and educational activities to their communities.
About #SuperCoders International To meet society's expectations and help create a digital world full of opportunities, the Orange Group created the #SuperCoders project in 2014. The program is an international event in the European Week of the Code in 17 countries where the Orange Group is present: Belgium, France, Niger, Botswana, India, Poland, Cameroon, Italy, Romania, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Spain and Moldova.