Girls crack the code at workshop

(built-in codes) and then transferred code to a microprocessor called a Micro: Bit they each got to keep, after programming it to perform various functions.

They started off making a simple flashing heart animation to the relief of 11-year-old Maddy, a Grade 6 student at College Park who thought it might be rocket science.

“I expected it to be so crazy and hard, but it made a lot more sense the way you put the blocks together and they gave us a little device you code and command,” she explained.

actually,” said another 11-year-old Grade 6 College Park student named Scarlett.

She says she liked putting animation, sound and LED lights all together best of all to create emotions.

ing for girls like Scarlett who see the value in them.

“It’s just great that they offer you this because it gives you a new experience to do and thoughts about your future, maybe using the program,” she said.

Krahn says the thing about block coding is anyone can do it, and the girls did a fantastic job.

“We started with something simple and I would add a complication to that. They kept up with me the entire day,” he said.

About 50 young girls from Grades 4 to 8 in the Lloydminster Public School Division (LPSD) have discovered coding is for them, too.

That was the goal of a coding-for-girls workshop at College Park School last Saturday.

“Studies have shown the earlier girls are introduced to coding, the more likely it is they will pursue a coding career,” said instructor and LPSD education technology consultant Cornelius Krahn.

“This coding is just an introduction to tell them how simple it is and how capable they are in pursuing coding.”

In a nutshell, the girls used Chromebooks to code using blocks

At the end of the day, the girls ended up coding an indoor and outdoor thermometer that communicated with each other via radio signals.

The girls also created a step counter, a magic 8 ball, a random number generator and a rock, paper and scissors game using block coding, among other coding projects.

“It was really fun

“We made this project called Scream; it’s a like a dude and when you shake him, he screams,” she said.

The Micro: Bit has built-in components such as a radio antenna, thermometer, accelerometer Bluetooth antenna, LEDs and a speaker/microphone.

The College Park workshop was the third of eight workshops being held for cod -

“They never said ‘this is boring’ or ‘I don’t get this;’ they were doing some pretty complicated stuff by the end.”

Maddy says when she got home she added another emotion to her own Scream character.

“It’s easy for me to understand the program that you use,” she said.

As for pursuing a career in coding, she said, “It’s definitely something I’ve thought about.”