EU Code Week Ambassadors

United Kingdom

Ambassadors

Yasemin Allsop

I worked as an ICT Coordinator in primary schools in London for almost 10 years. I am currently employed as a Lecturer in Primary Education at Institute of Education, University College London. My research focus is children’s thinking learning and metacognition when making digital games. I am the founder and co- editor of an online magazine called ICT in Practice (www.ictinpractice.com) where educators from around the world share their experiences of using technology in education. I am the co-editor of International Journal of Computer Science Education in Schools (www.ijcses.org). I have been selected as Minecraft Edu mentor for 2017 program. I am the co-author of a recent book called 'Primary Computing in Action' with Ben Sedman.

Martin Evans

Hi, I’m Martin, the Ambassador for CodeWeek in Scotland I’ve been a coder for over 30 years and been involved in a number of hardware and software projects. I’ve also written a book “Arduino in Action” which was published in June 2013 by Manning publications. I've ran a Code Club since early 2013 when I started a club at my local primary school. My son (aged nine) and I gave a presentation about our Code Club at the 2014 Scottish Ruby Conference. In addition to the Code Club supplied materials we have experimented with Arduino, Makey Makey a Sphero and Brushbots. The club have also built a small Arduino controlled obstacle avoidance robot. I have built a couple of underwater robots that I’ve demonstrated at a number of Maker Faires throughout the UK and Ireland. I would be happy to hear from anyone arranging or needing help arranging an event in CodeWeek in Scotland

Michael O'Kane

I am a Primary Educator for iTeach in Northern Ireland. We help schools and educators plan, integrate, deploy and teach with the iPad in the classroom. We empower change and enable schools to create innovative, creative and engaging teaching and learning. I love developing opportunities for children to improve programming skills through coding and gamification apps on the iPad, linking in a meaningful way to Literacy, Numeracy and the rest of the curriculum. Over the past 2 years I have led coding sessions in school communities in Northern Ireland for children, teachers and parents. A personal favourite of mine is using the Parrot Drone linked with the Tickle app, to give children a feel for visual programming, linking in with positional and directional language, angles and instructional text. Those involved have used the iPad to access coding languages through a range of coding apps. I feel it is important for children to develop programming skills, as it is a 21st Century skill set which employers in Northern Ireland have identified as essential in an ever increasing digital world. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in arranging an event for Code Week in Northern Ireland.

Elpida Makrygianni

I am the Engineering Education Developer and Coordinator at the Faculty of Engineering, University College London, and the Centre for Engineering Education. My role involves designing, developing and managing UCL Engineering's 100+ STEM Engagement programmes and activities for young people aged 5-19 years old in the UK. As a computer scientist and engineer with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence Systems, I am extremely passionate about inspiring more young people, especially girls, to learn how to code, develop relevant coding skills and to consider careers in engineering and computer science. As the London University Advisor for the STEM Network, I work closely in partnership with government, industry and organisations to promote diversity and enable pupil participation from a broad range of abilities, backgrounds and levels of understanding, making engineering and computing more visible and accessible. If you are interested in organising or hosting an event, please feel free to contact me.