Training wannabe techies

Ever wondered what it takes to programme a robot to move in a certain pattern or specific direction? If you’re in grades 10, 11 and 12, you could soon find out – and have a go at getting a robot to do your bidding.

The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) School of Information Technology (IT) is co-hosting a six-day holiday camp from 1 July aimed at providing high-school pupils with an opportunity to experience the world of technology and coding first-hand, and to find out more about possible careers in the tech space.

The holiday camp is being run in collaboration with CodeSpace Academy, a tech academy that trains and equips students with the skills they need to excel in the global IT industry.

It will take place during the upcoming winter holidays, in a format of daily sessions that incorporate learning coding, robotics, problem-solving, designing tech solutions and visual programming.

Rigorous programme

Activities and work sessions on the rigorous, jam-packed schedule include:

• Robotics: programming an actual robot to move in a specific pattern and create shapes
• Sonic Pi: creating a tune by coding on Sonic Pi, an open-access program designed for making new sounds with code
• Visual programming: creating working code by using programming logic and code building blocks, which translate across different programming languages.

The interactive programme includes question-and-answer sessions with industry professionals who use tech in the workplace every day.

To ensure this initiative is open to everyone, scholarships have been made available.

Teachers are urged to share the opportunity with their classes and to contact CodeSpace Academy for more information.