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OpenTechSchool Learner Spaces Video Script

Introductions

• A:

  • I’m Amélie

  • Software Developers at SoundCloud

• B:

  • I’m Ben

  • Freelance Software Developer

• A:

  • a year ago we were part of a group who founded OpenTechSchool

  • OTS is a community of tech enthusiasts, who want to share the fun of coding

  • organise and host free, hands-on workshops

About OTS

• B:

  • we’ve done: python, JS, android, ardunio, git and github

  • and other learners events: learners meetups and kids hackathon

• A:

  • we want to expand this; do more community driven hands-on learning events and more in-depth programms.

• B:

  • you already know that from the application

  • so we want to take the chance to talk a little about why we do this

About Amélie

• A:

  • I am Amélie, I research, prototype and implement recommender systems, big data analyses and Machine Learning algorithms

  • but I also love hacking in general, and love attending and organising hackathons as much as conferences

  • at every of those events I see that being a female developer is still an exception

  • I’ve been working on bringing and keeping more women in our field,

  • by making it more welcoming, supportive and by showcasing role models

  • more generally the tech scene has a diversity problem

  • other minorities are barely or not represented

About Ben

• B:

  • Am Ben, a self-tought software developer

  • been programming since an early age, wanted to become programmer

  • during school i had to learn that instructional classes do not work well for me

  • very hands-on learning style

  • therefore starting to study at university wasn’t appealing to me

  • Luckily found a job, with great mentors

  • but only few are so lucky, many are left behind

  • online universities having great offerings, but not enough

  • started, got stuck, stopped doing

  • need people around to help - not only when stuck, encourage and mentor

  • People don’t learn from computers, people learn from people.

What we’ve done

• A:

  • But we have plan

  • OTS: a vibrant, friendly and welcoming learning environment for tech

  • Experienced people volunteering: hands-on material, coaching beginners

  • Seen huge demand, not only in Berlin

• B:

  • it’s documented and OpenSourced, so others built upon it

  • Have local teams in: Stockholm, Melbourne, Berlin, Hamburg and Zurich and others are on the way.

We have a problem

• A:

  • being solely based on volunteers has limitations:

  • we are able to introduce basic concepts and get people excited during a weekend

  • but a weekend is not enough to get better at progamming

  • we are set out to offer longer programms in a dedicated tech learning space

  • built on the principles and values of OTS

  • after berlin: somewhere else with smaller tech scene, too

• B:

  • funding: already talking to local companies

  • great: sustaining through local community

  • but needs independance from their agenda which is recruting

  • to make sure the learning expierence doesn’t suffer

We need kickstart

• A:

  • and for that we need a kickstart by someone, who shares similar goals and values

  • and that is why we are applying for a Fellowship with the Shuttleworth Foundation

• B

  • Thank you for your time

  • Looking forward to hearing from you