More and more WordCamps are featuring youth and young people, which is an excellent thing. But although it’s important to introduce basic concepts of WordPress to those as young as 7 or 8 years old – it’s the application of that knowledge in the later part of elementary school and through middle school that presents challenges. Especially when other avenues such as YouTube, gaming, and mobile apps are distracting the attention of those that might not see how useful CMS, open source, and WordPress can be.
Olivia Bisset (14 years old) strives to address to an audience of young ones, parents, and general adults and provide both personal case studies AND practical applications.
What People Will Learn
Young people will learn how they can use WordPress in a practical way. Going from “yeah i can make a post in WordPress” to “i did my latest school project on WordPress”.
Parents can also learn the right tools and ways to encourage their children to use WordPress to better their education and to create meaningful content.
Why It’s Important
For WordPress to stay relevant, we need to do more than simply teach the basics at meetups and WordCamps. Practical application – how to use it to the best ways possible – will give more confidence and experience to the youth and they edge closer to the “real world”.
My Experience With This Topic
Olivia has had 5 years experience with WordPress, and has used it in numerous projects. She is also a summer camp volunteer, a WordCamp volunteer for a number of years, and is currently learning JavaScript and Python as she begins a new year of homeschooling (after public school for the past eight years).