VICEROY Kids Camp introduces younger students to coding and programming – Jagwire

The best time to get people interested in a particular field is at a young age. Children can be like sponges and absorb a lot of knowledge that can form the basis for their future. This is especially true for anything related to computer and cyber science, as children are constantly surrounded by electronic devices.

The third annual VICEROY Kids Camp, hosted by Augusta University’s School of Computer and Cyber ​​Sciences, attracted nearly 50 fourth through eighth graders to learn about a variety of topics related to coding, cybersecurity, cyberethics and more.

Nine-year-old Kate Hubbard got involved with the camp at the urging of her mother, who works at the Georgia Cyber ​​Innovation and Training Center.

“She wants me to get into programming and grow up and get into programming because they’re looking for more women,” Hubbard said.

Much of the camp focused on learning the basics of coding and computational thinking by programming mico:bits, a pocket-sized computer that makes learning to code easy and fun. Students were able to program microbots and then “race” them around a track on the last day of camp.

“The goal of the camp was to really inspire them to want to learn more about the topic and to continue learning and delving deeper into the topic throughout their lives,” said Michael Nowatkowski, PhD.

Even at such a young age, students realize how important it is to be able to program.

“I think programming would be a good opportunity to get a good job,” said 11-year-old Annalynn Chasse.

“I thought it would be fun to learn how to code so I could do cool stuff,” said 9-year-old Danielle Carswell.

Justin Carney, a graduate student in the School of Computer and Cyber ​​​​Sciences, was a counselor for not only VICEROY Camp, but also GenCyber ​​​​Camp. He sees the importance of students of this age engaging in this field.

“I look at them as a form of modeling clay,” Carney said. “You have to take that modeling clay and make something out of it, and they learn so much that hopefully by the end of camp, and in the future, they have enough understanding to want to do this work.”

Carney, who hails from Warner Robins, Georgia, is proof that these types of camps can be beneficial, as he was a GenCyber ​​camper, which inspired him to eventually enroll at Augusta University. He actually started before the Georgia Cyber ​​Center was built, but knew early on that AU was where he wanted to be.

Carney also sees how the sector is changing every day and realizes that it could be helpful for these young people later in life if they are introduced to these tools and techniques now.

For the campers it was “cool” to learn new things about the world of programming and cyber.

“I learned how to code LEDs on a minibot,” Chasse said.

“I like block coding because it’s easy and I’m not that good with the keyboard yet, so I’m not that good with JavaScript yet, but I can do it,” Hubbard added.

There are currently over 500,000 job openings in cybersecurity. While it will be a few years before these kids enter the workforce, the jobs are likely still there.

Michael Nowatkowski, PhD, director of the Cyber ​​​​Institute and professor in the School of Computer and Cyber ​​​​Sciences, said the students also learned how to solve problems with coding. Not only that, but because they were dealing with robots and hardware, they also learned other skills related to how the software communicates with the hardware.

“They had to interact with a micro:bit, which is a small, portable microcontroller. It has blinking lights, push buttons, and various sensors,” Nowatkowski said. “So if they tilt it in one direction, the microcontroller can respond in different ways.

“The kids were just really excited,” he added. “The idea of ​​the camp was to really inspire them to want to learn more about the subject and to continue to learn and delve deeper into the subject as they go along.”