Enugu Summer of Code 2018

ENUGU SUMMER OF CODE

Enugu Summer of Code is a holiday program hosted by Soparkids international in collaboration with local and international partners to develop young people, especially kids in the area of coding/programming. It is a practical-based program that focuses on catching the interest of kids at a very young age in the areas of writing codes for mobile applications, games and web sites. The summer program also deals with the assembling robot hardware and writing the codes that control or instruct these robots.

The main motivation behind the Enugu Summer of Code is to introduce the kids to the unlimited wonderful world of programming, artificial intelligence and digital technology, early enough so as to maximize the high interest, creativity, drive and energy associated with teens and adolescents in the development of practical solutions for individuals, organizations and governments. Digital technology, especially coding/programming requires enormous creativity and energy for maximum efficiency. However, it has been observed that most people in the coding world usually get involved (start learning) coding in their early 20`s and some in their 30`s, when they are already being burdened with personal, family and societal responsibilities. These responsibilities compete with their coding interests for their creativity, energy and time; thereby reducing the heights they could have attained in coding and digital technology. This factor alone ranks high amongst the major reason for the slow development of the digital technology in sub-Saharan Africa.

Having known this, we cannot just sit and complain. We have to do something, a solution that will work must be implemented as soon as possible so that Africa, Nigeria and the South east in particular, will properly play their leading role in the global scheme of things. This is the major motivation behind the Enugu Summer of Code. If we can catch them (their interest) young, then the interest and the skill can be easily and more efficiently developed to enable them become world class developers of working solutions.

Programs to be offered in the summer:

1.      1.       Web and App design
2.      Scratch programming
3.      Game development.
4.      Robotics.
5.      3D printing
 

Some of our Content Partners are:

1.      Google CS first

2.      Scratch Team (MIT), USA.

1.      Africa Code Week

Who is this program for?

Currently, Enugu Summer of Code is mainly focused on teens of 6-18 years. The facilitating company, SOPARKids International has training packages for young and older adults.

How can one be a part of this?

To have your kid(s) take part of this revolution, log onto www.soparkids.org/SUMMER.html  and fill the application form. You will be contacted as soon as possible.

Give your kids this opportunity and help us really realize our vision of raising the next Bill Gates from this part of the globe.

Cheerz!!!

By Chibuike Ugwu

Students earn gold in coding

A pair of Wabash College students each have earned a Gold Badge in coding through a partnership between the Independent Colleges of Indiana and Eleven Fifty Academy.

Joey Karczewski, a junior from Crown Point, and Patrick Marsh, a junior from Munster, garnered the honor through Smart Launch Tech, a coding program designed for liberal arts students. All of the 19 students from 14 private colleges around the state completed the month-long program on June 29, each earning the industry- and state-recognized Gold Badge Certification from Eleven Fifty, headquartered at Launch Fishers. 

The students learned the basics of HTML, CSS and Java Script in a four-week boot camp held on the campus of Franklin College during the month of June. They completed assignments demonstrating badge competencies and compiled an e-portfolio, presented at the end of the program.

In addition to coding, students were exposed to the wide range of career possibilities within the tech field, including project and marketing management, data analysis, compliance, security and design

Smart Tech Launch was created to marry the technical skills of coding with the problem-solving approach of a liberal arts education. 

Karczewski and Marsh are the second and third Wabash students to complete the coding certification in Smart Launch Tech’s two-year history.

What to you think of this story? 

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IBM hosts summer tech camp for kids in Membertou

Gary Walsh, right, director of Acadia University Robotics, congratulates IBM STEM youth summer camp participants Liela Doucette and Bryson Morrison on successfully instructing their robot to move forward through the use of a computer program. It’s the first time the science and technology camp, hosted by IBM, has been held in an Indigenous community in Cape Breton. - Chris Shannon

MEMBERTOU — A unique summer camp was hosted by IBM for the first time in an Indigenous community in Cape Breton.

About 15 Indigenous youth entering Grades 6 to 8 spent the past week learning various aspects of STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — at Membertou’s elementary school.

It’s only the second time employees from IBM’s client innovation centre in Bedford have held a summer camp in Cape Breton.

Val Lemay, who is the STEM youth co-ordinator for the IBM client innovation centre, said it was a “great opportunity” to pique the interest of students in the science and technology fields.

“I think STEM is slowly becoming more and more incorporated into school curriculums, which is great, and we just want to show them the opportunities they have with STEM-related interests and STEM-related fields and how the careers are really endless,” she said.

Early in the camp, the students conducted a fruit DNA experiment and covered a section on snap circuits where the children learned about electricity and how to make their own circuits using fans and light bulbs.

They also learned the basics of scratch coding on the school’s laptop computers and took a field trip to the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site in Baddeck.

On Thursday, Acadia University robotics director Gary Walsh explained, demonstrated and allowed the students to plug in computer commands enabling them to operate an EV3 (evolution 3) robot.

“This is what I love doing,” Walsh said. “One of the most fun parts of my job is the outreach with the kids.”

The Lego Mindstorms robots used by the students in Membertou are used in the First Lego League for nine- to 14-year olds. Competitions are held regionally at five Nova Scotia Community College campuses across the province — one of them held at the Marconi campus in Sydney — and top competitors then head to Acadia University each February to compete.

Walsh said the robots bring a “good strong foundation” of interest and intrigue to youth studying science.

“You might even look at it like a little hook because the robotics is the fun element that’ll eventually, hopefully, lead to something where because of the teamwork they use and the creativity and innovation they use to perfect their skills here, might interest them in a career in science someday.”

Bryson Morrison of Potlotek First Nation was the first in the program to program his robot to move forward in a straight line. The simple exercise brought a smile to his face.

“I like learning new stuff every day when I come here,” he said, adding he’s keen on science as a school subject.

Like Morrison’s lab partner, Liela Doucette of Membertou, this is his first time participating in a summer camp.

Doucette said using the robots has been the most entertaining part of the camp.

“They can move with computer stuff,” she said. “It’s cool.”

And it wasn’t her first time using robotics. A couple of months ago, Doucette and her schoolmates used iPads to send instructions to robots in the school gymnasium.

“I’d like to learn more about it and … learn how to do it on my own.”

Students in the summer camp spent Friday playing math bingo and figuring out how to calculate the area of their hands. The camp wrapped up with a tour of the Fortress Louisbourg.

The Mi’kmaw Economic Benefits Office played a role in bringing the IBM summer camp to Membertou.

Membertou Chief Terry Paul referred to the STEM camp as one way of “building Membertou’s future workforce.”