Students are generally more comfortable with computers then their parents. My experiences in high school put me off learning computers at University. High school computering makes it seem boring. No challenge.

The National Computer Science School. Held at the University of Sydney. No prior programming experience required. https://www.ncss.edu.au/

“Sometimes the level of knowledge from some of the students can be intimidating. Its good for those who are strong to lead those who are weak, but it can be difficult at times and comparing yourself to others can be discouraging.”

Girls are less likely to have prior experience programming.

The Girl’s programming network.

Online programming competition.

Python is a primary teaching language. Why it is good? Why is it bad? Teaching programming to beginners.

How many ways can you write Hello World?

Typing speed is important factor. Some students struggle to type without thinking about it.

Plain text interfaces are boring to new programmers.

Challenge: Coding at home.

Government issues laptops. Python in browser. No programming languages installed. Internet Explorer only one installed.

Confidence. Stronger students can put off weaker students.

https://www.ncss.edu.au/

How to motivate students? Check out the ncss challenge. Writing virtual machines. RPN parsing, fun as possible, etc.

Python on Android???

NCSS - teachers invited to attend. Unfortunately only a few teachers attend. Feedback from these teachers is very good.