Preparing to be Makers in a Consumer-Focussed World (BuzzConf 2016)

Abstract:
These days, many people are accustomed to playing games on consoles or tablets; locked down devices that don’t give much flexibility for us to be creative.
In a world where everything is happening online, and not just computer literacy, but, increasingly, the ability to program is becoming very important, how do we facilitate novices and our youth to take control of their technology and become hackers, rather than just doing what the software and hardware vendors will permit?
This talk seeks to explore options for facilitating this exploration in fun and interesting ways that will prepare all beginners (and not just, for example, well-off white males) for the world in which we find ourselves.
Slides: mattcen.github...
This presentation was given at buzzconf.io, and Emerging Technologies Festival, in Victoria, Australia.