Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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PARENTS & STUDENTS
How can my child sign up?
There are several ways your child can get involved:
We partner with elementary and middle schools in Dallas ISD. Registration opens for the yearly program in August and continues through the school year. Check to see if we partner with your school. If we don’t, let the staff know that you’d like to bring Bold Idea to their Dallas ISD school. Depending on resources, we might be able to partner.
We also offer online Coding Clubs for any 3rd to 12th grade student residing in the U.S. Students participate in Coding Clubs during the school year. Additionally, we offer a 7-week Online Coding Camp during the summer. Registration for Coding Clubs opens in August. Sign up at programs.boldidea.org.
What is the cost to participate?
Students who participate in the ideaSpark Coding Clubs at their Dallas ISD school participate for free. Students who participate in Online Coding Clubs that are available to any student pay a $800 program fee per 28-week program year (about $28 per weekly session).
What if I can’t afford the program fee for the online Coding Club?
We provide financial assistance to students and their families who request it. When registering for a Coding Club there is an option to request financial assistance for a partial or full amount of fees. We also offer monthly payment plans.
What if my student does not have access to a computer?
We do not want access to technology to limit student access to computer science education. Our new Bold Laptops Program allows for students to apply to receive a laptop from Bold Idea. We only ask that the student enrolls in a Coding Club and regularly attends.
Cancellation Policy
All program fees are non-refundable. A deposit of 12.5% for Coding Club and 25% for Coding Camp is required. The deposit amount is applied as payment for the first month of the program and is refundable only as noted below.
If parents cancel their child’s registration before the first program day, parents will receive a full refund of any program fee already paid, and the invoice is canceled.
If parents cancel their child’s registration during his or her first two weeks of the program, they will receive a prorated refund of the program fee for the remainder of the month. If parents cancel after his/her first two weeks, then the full month’s program fee is non-refundable, but parents will receive a refund on any remaining months’ program fees already paid.
See Privacy Policy
Who can participate in an ideaSpark Coding Club?
ideaSpark Coding Clubs are open to all students in 3rd to 12th grades from all schools. The program information and online registration link is: https://programs.boldidea.org.
How often do student teams meet?
Teams meet weekly during two-hour sessions. ideaSpark is 14 weeks, including Demo Day.
Are students required to attend all of the sessions?
We encourage students to attend all of the sessions, if possible, in order to fully participate in the team’s projects. However, we know that things come up – illness, family situations, school homework, etc. - and we understand. We just ask that you give your the lead mentor at your program site a heads up if there is an expected absence.
What does my child need to bring? What does Bold Idea provide?
Students just need to bring an outgoing attitude to each session. No supplies or laptops are required. Bold Idea provides a program t-shirt and take-home learning materials for each student.
Do you offer financial assistance?
Yes, on a case-by-case basis. In order to request financial assistance, please complete a quick survey during the registration process.
What will my child be learning?
By participating in ideaSpark, students will develop computer science and 21st-century skills. As students return each semester, they will continue to gain a deeper understanding and mastery of these skills, plus how to apply them to create technologies as a team. Our mentors track student progress during each session and project, while Bold Idea keeps track of student growth over multiple semesters.
> Learn more about the skills we teach and measure
Do students learn programming languages? which ones?
Yes, students will learn several programming languages throughout their time with Bold Idea. They will learn these languages while creating their own computing projects. Bold Idea students have used Javascript, Python, HTML/CSS and MIT Scratch, a visual programming language, to create everything from mobile apps to 3D games, animations and websites. We teach programming with both visual- and text-based languages that give students experience writing programs, interspersing this with activities that challenge them as computer scientists.
Computer science is much more than just coding, though. It includes algorithms, abstraction, data, the Internet, global impact and creativity — in addition to programming. Computer science is the art of blending human ideas and digital tools to increase problem solving power. Bold Idea gives students a computer science context for their projects to help them solve problems and design solutions, which they have the option to create with code.
Today, programming languages come and go in popularity and usage — therefore, it is important that students understand the computing principles that are common across all languages.
Does my child need to have any prior knowledge of coding?
No prior experience in coding is required to participate in ideaSpark.
How do you teach computer science?
We use a project-based learning model that gives students hands-on experience applying coding concepts and computational thinking. Every two students are paired with a supportive and trained mentor. We call this collaboration pair programming. With support from mentors, students follow a process when working on their creative projects that includes discovery, ideation, prototyping, testing and sharing.
Who are the team mentors?
Volunteer mentors guide student learning, sitting with teams as they learn and code together. They get excited about their successes and are invested in a student’s development. Many have a technical background as professional coders while others are students from area universities, like UT Dallas. Bold Idea conducts a thorough background check as well as training and coaching sessions for all mentors that we thoughtfully pair with student teams.
Why teams?
From our experience, students learn best on a team with supportive mentors. They are encouraged to help their team members as they learn together and share equal participation in team projects. As a result, students are better able to problem solve, collaborate and communicate in a small group environment.
Significant progress is rarely made in computer science by one person working alone. Typically, computing projects involve large teams of professionals working together to design, code, test, debug, describe and maintain software over time. New programming methodologies such as pair programming emphasize the importance of working together.
MENTORS
How can I help mentor students with Bold Idea?
We love our mentors both long-time and new! Learn more about what it takes to become a volunteer mentor and apply here.
What are the requirements to be a mentor?
We require that mentors be high school graduates, pass a criminal background check, and watch/attend any required training. We also ask that our mentors make a time commitment to attending each weekly session or inform us ahead of time if you cannot.
To see a more detailed outline of what we expect from our mentors go here.
Can I mentor if I do not know how to code?
Yes! We do not require our mentors to be expert coders. You can be a beginner, an expert, or someone in-between. However, if you have little to no experience with coding we do ask that you read through and work on our curriculum yourself before you begin working with students.
WHAT IS COMPUTER SCIENCE?
What is Computer Science?
We like Code.org’s definition of computer science: “the art of blending human ideas and digital tools to increase problem-solving power”
Is Computer Science the same as coding or computer literacy?
Programming (or coding) is the process of writing instructions in a language that a computer can understand to execute a task. Computer science is much more than programming. Computer science covers hardware devices and systems, networks and communication, data and information, societal and cultural impacts, computational thinking... and coding (creating programs).
Computer literacy is the general use of computers, often focused on particular software applications, like office productivity software.
Computer science and computer literacy are different. The latter is focused on using computer technologies rather than understanding how/why these tools work and creating them. The work of Bold Idea is focused solely on computer science education, informed by standards created by The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA).
Isn’t it easy to learn to code online?
While free or inexpensive online coding programs are engaging, they lack the benefits of an in-person mentor and a project team. Online learning neglects students who don’t have a computer or Internet access at home, as well as students who have not yet developed an interest in computer science. Bold Idea students also benefit from the support of an experienced mentor compared to an online program or single-teacher classroom.
ABOUT US
How do students get involved?
We partner with Dallas ISD schools and community organizations that serve Dallas ISD students. These partners host the program for students in 3rd to 12th grades. Students learn about the ideaSpark Coding Clubs through a recommendation by their teacher or through classroom visits from Bold Idea staff and volunteers - or other marketing activities.
We also offer Online Coding Clubs for any student in the 3rd to 12th grades in the United States. Registration for Coding Clubs is available annually in August. The Coding Club schedule and registration is available at programs.boldidea.org.
How do you get students excited about Computer Science?
One of the challenges to the success of Bold Idea’s computer science mentoring program is building interest among girls and minority students. With little to no experience or understanding of computer science and with a lack of representation in the tech industry, these students are prone to assuming our program is either not of interest or not for them. These types of assumptions deter girls and minority students from registering for our courses. There are a few ways we can correct those assumptions and overcome this challenge.
The first is by freshly communicating computer science – making it approachable as a tool to be creative and solve problems. Students are more engaged when they see that their interests can be part of their technology projects. Another solution is to bring our mentors into classrooms to share their experience so that students can see people who look like them involved in technology. This removes some of the mystery and makes computer science feel more personal. Another solution to our challenge of building interest is through word-of-mouth marketing. We have found that students – girls, especially – tend to recommend our program to friends after they’ve built interest and confidence.
How are you funded?
Bold Idea’s fundraising is centered on relationships – most notably professionals in technology and engineering companies. Our corporate partners, like Texas Capital Bank and Alkami Technology, are invested in building a pipeline of tech talent while also giving their employees an avenue for community involvement using their skill sets in computer science. Bold Idea checks all those boxes and we’ve seen corporations become invested in our mission quickly because of that. Our partners commit to sponsor funding for a program site and to provide both volunteer mentors from its tech staff to meet our 1:2 ratio and a team captain who oversees weekly program delivery and opportunities for career exploration. Corporate sponsors, individual donations, and program fees cover most of our program costs.
How did Bold Idea get started?
In 2014, Robyn Brown, Ben Davis, and Jenn Beecham met and cultivated a small group of software developers around the idea of mentoring students in coding. All three had a background in technology - Robyn a writer, Ben a web developer, and Jenn an engineer. The developers they met locally in Dallas had a deep passion for coding, which often originated in middle and high school. After many years in the field, that passion would diminish through the drudgery of work. Educating younger students in coding might re-ignite that passion, they wondered.
Thus, the idea of mentoring as a way to teach computer science was born. They started by mentoring the students who might not see a place for themselves in technology - girls. For one year, the team of mentors (no name yet) partnered with Girl Scouts and offered Saturday coding workshops at a UT Dallas classroom. A call from AT&T in early 2015 led to our first corporate partnership and the foundation of the non-profit organization.
The team, now called Bold Idea, wondered though how much students would remember after one afternoon class. While the mentors may have sparked interest, it was obvious that long-term development in computer science was necessary. In the fall of 2015, they began piloting ideaSpark, a weekly, structured program with mentoring and hands-on learning in computer science. The program officially began in January 2016.