PyCon Israel 2024

Empowering the Next Generation: Teaching Python to Young Girls through AliceCode
09-16, 13:30–13:50 (Asia/Jerusalem), Hall 7
Language: עברית

Join me as I present my experience of teaching Python to 11-year-old girls through AliceCode’s program. Discover which concepts were challenging for them, examples of the coding exercises used, samples of their projects, and additional insights.


How do you teach 11-year-old girls Python? AliceCode is a non-profit organization whose goal is to train and empower young girls, from the fourth grade and up, in the software field. Through AliceCode, I had the privilege of teaching Python programming to young girls from various parts of the country via Zoom in their first steps into the world of coding.

During the session I will speak in-depth about the insights I gained in the process of teaching Python to young girls, including an overview of the program’s syllabus, which concepts were the hardest for them to understand, examples of the coding exercises and questions used during lessons, and samples of the students’ completed projects including code snippets.

I will also briefly share my firsthand observations of the outcomes and impact of early exposure to coding, and shortly discuss how I believe parents can motivate their children, specifically girls, to pursue and stay in computer science.


Expected experience level of participants

Basic

Target audience

Other (please specify below)

Other (target audience)

Parents and Educators

I’m an Automation Engineer at Own with a passion for empowering the next generation of female coders. During my time pursuing a degree in Computer Science, I volunteered at AliceCode, a non-profit organization aimed at teaching young girls programming skills.

I taught and mentored over 30 bright and curious young girls (4 groups) in elementary school (ages 9 to 12) on a weekly basis. In addition, I instructed and mentored in one-time hackathons for schools, and participated in various panels and events that AliceCode organized. Through these experiences, I developed a unique perspective on how to effectively introduce Python to children, particularly young girls.