Mothers in Longford are leading the way in their children's use of technology, new report shows

A new report shows how the growing OurKidsCode network of creative coding workshops and clubs for families is enabling parents in communities in Co. Longford and across Ireland to be more proactive in their children’s use of technology, with mothers comprising 72% of the parents involved.

The OurKidsCode project, whose partners include Longford County Council through its Broadband Officer Christine Collins, and the National Parents Council, builds parents’ confidence and skills in technology alongside their children at informal, hands-on creative coding workshops and clubs. These take place outside of school hours in libraries, primary schools and rural broadband connection point community centres.

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OurKidsCode workshops have successfully taken place in libraries in Ballymahon, Edgeworthstown and Granard as well as in community centres in Abbeyshrule, Carrickedmond, Moydow, Mullinalaghta and Latin School Community Centre, Moyne and Colmcille GAA, Aughnacliffe.

Creative coding is the playful use of computer programming to make art, stories, or interactive projects, combining coding, crafting and making.OurKidsCodeworkshops and clubs are appealing to parents, including in Co. Longford, who are looking for ways to increase their children’s active creation rather than passive consumption of technology.

Funded by Research Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development, OurKidsCode has reached 5,240 parents and children in 111 predominantly rural locations across Ireland including in Co. Longford. The report shows females (mothers and girls) comprised 55 per cent of participants, with males (fathers and boys) making up 43 per cent, busting the gender stereotype that females are not as interested in computing as males.

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OurKidsCode is committed to promoting inclusivity and diversity in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths). By partnering with DEIS schools, local development agencies and NGOs, it strives to make workshops that are accessible to all families.

A parent that attends OurKidsCode workshops in Co. Longford, who is quoted in the recently launched first OurKidsCode Impact Report, said: “Building digital skills in rural communities with access to high-speed broadband means that we, as a farming family, can now imagine a future where not all of our children will need to leave our community to be able to work in high-tech jobs in the future.”

Another Co. Longford parent said: “I was bowled over to think that something like that was available to us in the middle of nowhere in south Longford. That was great. It made it accessible; it made it local and the community spirit was brilliant.”

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Speaking at the recent launch of OurKidsCode’s Impact Report, OurKidsCode project lead and assistant professor in the School of Computer Science and Statistics at TCD, Dr. Nina Bresnihan, said: “OurKidsCode is committed to increasing opportunities for parental involvement in children’s computing education in Co. Longford and contributing to greater diversity, inclusivity and equal access, with a particular focus on rural communities where access to such initiatives is often limited. Getting parents involved in their children’s coding education can have powerful outcomes. Research in our new report shows how this boosts knowledge and confidence. It also sustains families engaging together in computing activities and promotes computing as a subject choice and future careers in STEAM-related fields. Furthermore, it challenges stereotypes by promoting female participation in computing based on mothers’ interest in their children’s early education. We see mothers who take part in our workshops acting as powerful role models for their daughters, demonstrating that STEAM is a viable and rewarding path.”

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OurKidsCode, based in the School of Computer Science and Statistics in Trinity College Dublin, has built an infrastructure and partnership network with county councils across Ireland, the National Parents Council, and Microsoft Dream Space for the delivery of facilitator-led workshops and a ‘Start a Club’ programme to support the establishment of parent-led creative coding clubs for families with primary-level children.

The full OurKidsCode 2021-2024 Impact Report is available to download at www.ourkidscode.ie/impact.

Find out more at www.ourkidscode.ie.