Coding Kids founder Emily de la Pena shares her passion for coding and robotics with students from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Primary School in the Torres Shire Council – with Robots in the Torres Strait.

Digital literacy is becoming as vital as traditional literacy and numeracy and Thursday Island school students are being introduced to robotics and coding to address this issue.

Primary and secondary school students, as well as members of the public, were given the opportunity to explore, play and learn about coding and robotics over a two-day workshop a couple of weeks ago organised by the Torres Shire Council.

Queensland organisation Coding Kids conducted the workshops at the Torres Shire Library.

Coding Kids General Manager, Emily de la Pena, said: “We’re here with the Torres Sire Council who brought us here to come to the library to deliver two days of coding and robotics workshops.”

“They were really lucky to get grant funding, and now they’ve got eight OzBot robots and four other larger robots.”

Through digital projects, students learn computational thinking, algorithmic thinking, logic, problem-solving, maths, computer programming concepts, graphic design and user experience. In the process, they create a tangible product using technology.

Ms de la Pena said they also came to Thursday Island to deliver professional development for teachers so that they can continue to run the robotics workshops for students.

“Digital technology is now part of both the Australian and Queensland curriculum.

Now the curriculum is shifting away from just technology consumption, using Excel, PowerPoint and programs like that, to technology creation and giving children the opportunity to build their own software and robotics, teaching them that they are capable of controlling technology and to not just be passive consumers.”

Article from Torres News by Aaron Smith

 

We had so much fun with Robots at the Torres Strait.

 

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