The teacher who started a coding club with no computers
Mr. Dara taught the logic of programming with paper, chalk and a lot of imagination — until the laptops arrived.
Before his school had a single computer, Mr. Dara was already teaching his students to think like programmers.
Using cards laid out on the floor, paper grids and step-by-step instruction games, he taught the underlying logic of coding — sequences, loops and conditions — without any electronics at all. The club met every Friday afternoon, and it grew.
When the laptops finally came
When a set of refurbished laptops arrived through a KAPE technology grant, Dara's students were ready. They had spent months building the mental models; now they simply moved them onto a screen. Within weeks, the club was building small games and animations.
The computer is just a tool. The thinking has to come first — and you can teach thinking anywhere.
Dara's approach is now being shared with other schools in the network, proving that the biggest barrier to digital learning is not always hardware.