December 06 2014 | Kent & Medway | Views: 2147
Programming a humanoid robot, flying Quad Copters and extracting data from mobile devices are not the average lessons that 14 to 16 year olds would be taught at school.
However that's just what academics from Canterbury Christ Church University offered seven Kent schools on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 December 2014.
The computing and technology event aimed to engage gifted and talented ICT pupils with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities that currently would not be found in the current national curriculum. Over the weekend, four sessions were held: Programming a Humanoid Robot, Programming Raspberry Pi, Quad Copters and Digital Forensics.
Jessica and Jennifer, in year 11, from Simon Langton Girls School programmed the Nao robots and said: “The Quad Copters very entertaining and exciting”. Siddhartha from Dartford Grammar School in year 11, said “I learnt a lot in the digital forensic session”. Kieran and Kezia in year 10 from Charles Dickens, Broadstairs, said that they felt like “Sherlock Holmes for the day”. “Raspberry Pis were productive and difficult, but good fun” said Jack from Saint George’s Church of England School in Kent.
Reza Mousoli said: “STEM subjects are critical for the health and wealth of our communities and we are pleased that we are helping to inspire the future generation of designers, scientist and engineers”
“The recent announcement by the Prime Minister for funding STEM activities shows how important it is to engage students with these important areas to enhance their prospects in the modern world.”
Kent & Medway STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) supported the event and were delighted by the positive feedback from the pupils and their teachers. The schools who attended were Simon Langton Girls; Charles Dickens; Mayfield Grammar; The Canterbury Academy; Astor College; Dartford Grammar School and Saint George’s Church of England School.
The event was organised and hosted by Hellen Ward, Principal Lecturer in the School of Teacher Education and Development, and Reza Mousoli, Programme Director for the Foundation Degree in Computing, Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity. It was organised by Canterbury Christ Church University as an initiative within the East Kent Partnership between the University and East Kent College (EKC), and which was financed by the European Social Fund (ESF).
