Coding/Computational/Algorithmic Literacy = Win from Civic Hacking
Michelle Koeth
Hope you're enjoying summer! As I was working a bit on Alexandria Plays (www.alexandriaplays.com) this weekend with the data - I wondered a bit why I like this stuff so much. I think like anything in life, we can get excited over being able to "Do Stuff." There was a time (not so long ago) when I had no idea how you'd connect an SMS platform with a dataset, but then I learned, and now I love putting SMS front ends on datasets. Geeks get into this stuff because it is empowering - like learning to read. Once you can read, now you can learn all kinds of things.
So, how do you "do computer stuff?" You become literate at it first. This recent article from Mother Jones talks about Code for America and civic hacking in the context of "Computational Thinking/Literacy" education. http://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/06/computer-science-programming-code-diversity-sexism-education
They also discuss a little about how there's a growing economy premised upon computational literacy, and to anyone who is worried about barriers to the younger generation's economic mobility, I say, computational literacy could be an answer.
And our brigade is the gateway to this learning!
I also wanted to thank all of you who came out to NDoCH for your support. Nina has prepared some stats and meta info on our recent NDoCH for those curious - check it out:
Our Social Media:
https://twitter.com/codenovabrigade and http://code4novabrigade.tumblr.com and https://storify.com/codenovabrigade/national-civic-day-of-hacking-2014
Special thank you to our sponsors! For providing the much needed resources to make this event a huge success.
Spectrum Communications - www.spectrumscience.com
FPMI Solutions - www.fpmi.com
Strategic Information Concepts
National Science Foundation - www.nsf.gov
300 Brand - www.300brand.com
oneTesla - www.onetesla.com
And, thank you to our partners who helped get the word out!
City of Alexandria
Alexandria Libraries
ACTion Alexandria
City of Alexandria IT Commission
By the Numbers
Registered Attendees: 136
Coders/Designers: 40
Community Members: 16
Government/Non-Profit: 62
Alexandria Plays App Testers: 18
Challenges Presented: 17
Challenges Tackled: 7
Alexandria Plays Surveys Filled: 13
The Survey will continue to be open through July 1st, as the Alexandria Libraries continues to promote it through their programs and outreach.
#hackforchangenova Tweets: 21
Code for Nova Brigade Tweets: 57
Code for Nova Tumblr Posts: 17
Blogger Mentions: 1
Tracy Viselli
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