Girls in Tech Taiwan: Connecting Taiwan’s tech talents to the world
Jane Shih founded Girls in Tech (GIT) Taiwan in November 2015 to encourage Taiwanese women to join science and technology, and also to provide opportunities and resources for developing international connections, creating a model of sustainable learning to cultivate female scientific and technological talents in Taiwan.
Established in 2007 by Adriana Gascoigne in San Francisco, Girls in Tech is an international nonprofit organization with 60 groups worldwide and over 50,000 members. When Shih returned to Taiwan from Silicon Valley in 2013, she noted the situation of the technology industry in Taiwan and the lack of international exposure and engagement. Many software talents lacks the opportunity to be seen by the world and the proportion of Taiwanese women in the field of science and technology remains low. She was motivated to make a series of improvements in Taiwan based on her past experiences. In 2014, she founded WeTogether.co, a platform for Taiwan’s software talents to connect globally, and subsequently GIT Taiwan in 2015.
Established in 2007 by Adriana Gascoigne in San Francisco, Girls in Tech is an international nonprofit organization with 60 groups worldwide and over 50,000 members. When Shih returned to Taiwan from Silicon Valley in 2013, she noted the situation of the technology industry in Taiwan and the lack of international exposure and engagement. Many software talents lacks the opportunity to be seen by the world and the proportion of Taiwanese women in the field of science and technology remains low. She was motivated to make a series of improvements in Taiwan based on her past experiences. In 2014, she founded WeTogether.co, a platform for Taiwan’s software talents to connect globally, and subsequently GIT Taiwan in 2015.
In the second half of November 2016, GIT Taiwan conducted the Hour of Code™ volunteer training, which attracted Young, a visually impaired participant. Engaged in visual impairment services, Young has previous experience in coding. However, he was unable to complete the challenge then, as the program, which was developed by American nonprofit Code.org, required visual capabilities.
Shih wrote to Code.org to reflect the situation and found a coding learning website for visually impaired online, which uses the Quorum programming language with audio responses to what is typed. Young studied this carefully and managed to achieve the Code.org certification.
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Young hoped to hold an Hour of Code™ for the visually impaired. Undeterred by the detailed planning and numerous resources involved, such as one-to-one guidance, Young, with Emily and other GIT Taiwan volunteers set out to plan the event. Eleven visually impaired participants and almost twenty volunteers gathered at the Star Rocket co-working space to make it happen.
Hack for a Cause and Angelhack Taipei. At the start of 2016, the young GIT Taiwan held its first Hour of Code™ and subsequently partnered with Junyi Academy and The Alliance Cultural Foundation (ACF) to promote the Hour of Code™ in Taiwan, and also participated in Microsoft’s Computer Science Education Week with women tech groups such as RLadies and PyLadies.
Shih observed that the nurturing of talent in technology needed to take place through basic education. Last year, she spotted a programming teaching vacancy at Yilan's Jiaoxi High School which helped her understand more about the classroom situation. Together with GIT Taiwan’s core volunteer Joannie Huang, who earned the substitute teaching qualification, Shih joined the school after the selection process of the club.
At Jiaoxi High School, the two of them taught five classes of eighth-graders and the Computer Club for seventh-graders. They made use of the weekly 45-minute lesson slot to teach students about coding language and web applications. As coding requires a basic command of English, she allowed students to search for information on Google to practice English and use Google Doc. Most importantly, she led students to think about how these knowledge could be useful in their daily lives, such as in the use of mobile phones and smart appliances to show the importance of technology education.
At Jiaoxi High School, the two of them taught five classes of eighth-graders and the Computer Club for seventh-graders. They made use of the weekly 45-minute lesson slot to teach students about coding language and web applications. As coding requires a basic command of English, she allowed students to search for information on Google to practice English and use Google Doc. Most importantly, she led students to think about how these knowledge could be useful in their daily lives, such as in the use of mobile phones and smart appliances to show the importance of technology education.
Through a project-driven approach, Shih lets the children find their own answers and present their findings, making the learning of coding interesting and fun with varied learning resources, which is what GITT believes in, to engage multiple learning platforms and resources beyond that of the school.
Shih believes that Taiwan is capable of producing future tech through coding, creative thinking, design capabilities and working with others to create user-friendly products, going beyond using foreign products to become the Silicon Valley of Asia!
About Girls in Tech
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Girls in Tech Taiwan 40 under 40 - 2017 Nomination
Shih believes that Taiwan is capable of producing future tech through coding, creative thinking, design capabilities and working with others to create user-friendly products, going beyond using foreign products to become the Silicon Valley of Asia!
About Girls in Tech
Website
Girls in Tech Taiwan 40 under 40 - 2017 Nomination
