Girls across Canada came together on Wednesday to explore coding and creativity in a nation-wide, virtual hack-a-thon.
Three schools in SD62 B次元官网网址� Journey Middle School, Dunsmuir Middle School and John Stubbs Memorial School B次元官网网址� gathered girls age 11 and 12 to participate in the Hackergal Hackathon.
The full-day program gives young girls the opportunity to create their own code for things like videos and games. Hackergal gives teachers and girls access to coding licenses and web-based tutorials before the event takes place so that on the day of, they are ready to go.
At Dunsmuir Middle School, girls were given the theme of environment and used computer codes to make games and videos that educate people about environmental issues.
Nicole Wallace teaches Grade 6 at Dunsmuir Middle School and said she heard about the hackathon from a teacher who participated in it last year.
Wallace said itB次元官网网址檚 a great opportunity for young girls because girls and women are under represented in STEM fields in both higher education and the workforce.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 just not something that girls tend to see as an option for them so getting them interested in coding and programming early helps them say B次元官网网址榦h I can do this,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Wallace said.
According to , women are less likely than men to choose a university program in STEM fields.
The number of women among STEM university graduates aged 25 to 34 in 2011 was 39 per cent. The proportion of women in STEM occupations requiring a university education in 2011 was 23 per cent.
Wallace said that although the girls had been silent all day as they worked away on their projects, they were really enjoying themselves.
Eleven-year-old Alicia Porter used code to make a game and quiz that shows an image of a polluted park that needs to be cleaned up. Porter said she hopes to continue with coding in the future and said she wants to be able to combine technology and animal conservation.
B次元官网网址淟ike using drones and better technology to get supplies to people who are out in the field conserving animal species,B次元官网网址� Porter said. B次元官网网址淭his is kind of a really cool topic to work on.B次元官网网址�
Annabelle Boudreau and Mikayla Morgan are both in Grade 6 and said they didnB次元官网网址檛 know they would like coding and computer science until they tried out the Hackergal program.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a lot of fun,B次元官网网址� Boudreau said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e spent many, many hours at the computer trying to go through all the levels.B次元官网网址�
Wallace said the day was filled with excitement and the girls involved spent it working hard on their ideas. She said things like this did not exist when she was in school.
B次元官网网址淲hen I was in high school it was the B次元官网网址榖oys clubB次元官网网址� and it wasnB次元官网网址檛 something that I pursued B次元官网网址� but I regret that, I wish I had known and now I love it,B次元官网网址� Wallace said. B次元官网网址淎ny way that I can include programming and robotics in my teaching I do.B次元官网网址�
shalu.mehta@goldstreamgazette.com
