Python coding, building robots, designing apps; welcome to computer camp. Samantha Laurie rolls out the digital days of summer
A few years ago my tech-mad teenager attended a summer camp which may, in the end, turn out to have affected his future more than anything else he has done: a computing and microelectronics course run by inspirational engineering charity Smallpeice Trust at the University of Southampton.
For five nights he and teammates stayed up till the early hours, designing, building and programming a robot to compete in a ruthless nationwide robot-off against other teams and their designs. Finding himself surrounded by enthusiasts – in charge was none other than Web founder Tim Berners-Lee – and witnessing coding in practical application lit a fire that still consumes him.
In the US, tech camps are a familiar sight. 50,000 kids a year enrol on courses to get them ‘under the hood’ of the technology that envelops all aspects of modern life – video games, phone apps, websites, robotics. Slowly, Britons too are finding ways to take the energy and enthusiasm of kids for games like Minecraft and channel it into real digital literacy.
Fire Tech Camp and FunTech are leading the way with a range of summer camps – from one-day classes in higher-level programming and robotics skills, using popular games such as Minecraft Redstone and LEGO Mindstorms, to week-long Python coding camps with the option of fully immersive residential experience.
Intriguingly, both are run by women. This is an industry marked by the absence of the female form: at this summer’s Student Robotics showdown in Newbury there were fewer girls present than boys in Jedi gear. American Jill Hodges, who founded Fire Tech Camp three years ago, says that girls are drawn to the more creative classes such as designing mobile phone apps, as well as to the most academic of the offerings, the CV-enhancing Python coding course.
But its newest course, Rapid Prototyping, which combines design, engineering and craft, is drawing interest from all quarters. Run at the new digital prototyping workspace in the City, Fab Lab London, the course is the first of its kind to give kids a chance to use 3D printers to create their own designs – in this case, moulds of their faces for making chocolate lollipops in their own image.
At FunTech, which runs courses in Richmond and Weybridge, a popular addition this year is a course that deploys virtual reality Oculus Rift technology to design and programme video games.
“This takes gaming passion to new levels,” explains Managing Director, Sheineez Barber. “It’s A level standard computing via games like Minecraft.”
But she too worries about the lack of interest from girls. Even radical initiatives – such as 50% scholarships for FunTech’s girls-only residential course in Bristol this month – have had few takers.
Now, however, girls need to look past gaming and into the future. Addressing the Student Robotics competitors at Newbury was Philip Su of Facebook.
“In the future,” he said, “there will be only two types of employment – engineering and creative arts. Coding is at the heart of both of those.
“You,” he finished with a flourish, “will one day rule the world.”
The Jedis nodded in agreement.
Book residential, termtime and summer camps online with Funtech
End of summer courses are still available at Fire Tech Camp
Courses for next summer will soon be open for booking with Smallpeice Trust
