#DigitalReboot codebar – Coding 101

Adrian Paris, University of Kent Hub Innovation & Enterprise Administrator

Interested in learning how to understand and write your own #code all whilst being able to enjoy free food and drink? As part of #DigitalReboot the University of Kent has organized coding skills development sessions in partnership with codebar and will be taking place from June to November of 2019.

What’s codebar? 

  • codebar itself is volunteer led, running workshops and other events all around the world. 

‘codebar is a non-profit initiative that facilitates the growth of a diverse tech community by running regular programming workshops.’

What do the workshops include?

  • The workshops themselves follow a format of 30 minutes of socialising with food and drink, followed sometimes by a lightning talk, then coding.
  • The codebar participants/students are paired either 1 to 1 or 2 to 1 with the coaches and can either go through the online courses available via the codebar.io site, or get assistance with their own projects.

‘Attend our workshops to learn programming in a safe and supportive environment at your own pace, or to share your knowledge and coach our students.’

What’s the goal?

  • The workshops are free, led by Yoyo Design, and available to people who fit the eligibility criteria.
  • These workshops form part of the County wide Kent codebar chapter, with the hopes to get more women, LGBTQ and people from other underrepresented groups involved with programming as well as getting tech sector based companies involved with supporting these communities in and around Kent.

‘Our goal is to enable underrepresented people to learn programming in a safe and collaborative environment and expand their career opportunities. To achieve this we run free regular workshops, regular one-off events and try to create opportunities for our students making technology and coding more accessible.’

Am I eligible for the workshops? 

  • codebar was started out of recognition that there is a shortage of women, LGBTQ, and people belonging to underrepresented ethnic groups in tech.
  • If you belong to one of these groups, you are more than welcome to attend. If not, there are some other great initiatives like Open Tech School or Ask a Dev where you can learn in a collaborative environment.
  • Bearing that in mind, it is sometimes difficult for us to identify whether attendees meet the eligibility criteria based on their first and last name. We will try our best to verify via social media profiles beforehand, but if we cannot, we will contact you asking for a short confirmation that you have read this document and assert that you meet one or more of the criteria. We will never ask participants to specify which group.
  • codebar is first and foremost a resource for students who cannot afford formal training through coding bootcamps or university degrees, for financial reasons or otherwise.
  • Our coaches, organisers and sponsors donate their time and money to help those who have faced unfair barriers to entry into the tech world.
  • We have strived to create an inclusive, welcoming community, and so far, we have not had to implement a formal policy to enforce the eligibility criteria — we have left this to the honesty and good faith of the students.
  • If you are unsure whether you are eligible, please get in touch. If we determine that you have signed up and do not belong to an eligible group, we will permanently suspend your student invitations without warning.

For further information on codebar and their efforts click here

To register for the codebar sessions click here 

 

By: Adrian Paris

Kent Hub for Innovation and Enterprise Administrator

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