Over the past year, we’ve been super busy here at Software Cornwall. Our education outreach program is continuing to build up momentum, with a packed calendar of events planned for the coming year. There are a few activities that we’re looking to Cornwall’s tech community to help support, plus an activity we’ve organised with the STEM Learning network next week as part of the Women Tech Makers event (all welcome).
It doesn’t matter if you’ve not assisted any of our activities before. No experience of Arduinos, C or electronics? No problem. Never touched a Raspberry Pi? Perfect! You’ll learn something too. It’s not just coding. It’s also about coaching the students through the problem-solving process and encouraging them to use best practices. There’ll be seasoned mentors around that can help with the finer technical details. We’re all there to help each other out. Don’t worry about being available for every single day of each activity, the odd one or two is a great help.
If you (or any of your team) are able to provide support for the activities listed below, send an email to [email protected].
Mission to Mars
Over the course of a week, teams of budding software engineers are tasked with completing a set of incrementally difficult challenges. Their mission is to code Ada & Alan in order to traverse the tricky martian terrain in the hope of terraforming the Martian surface. This is a really fun activity to be a part of, and one that often has a huge impact on participants future career decisions.
We have three missions planned for 2018:
- April 3rd to 6th, St. Austell – Details
- July 9th to 13th, Redruth – Details
- October 22nd to 26th, Liskeard – Details
STEM Ambassador / Mentor training
A one-day session, split into two parts. The morning will be an induction into the STEM Ambassador network. After lunch, which is included, we’ll cover two common outreach activities. You’ll get to play our rover robots as well as turn some electronics into an internet of things device. If you’ve ever wanted to volunteer for your local Code Club or STEM club, then this event is perfect for you. If you’re already an ambassador, feel free to join us for the afternoon.
- April 24th, Redruth – Details
This event is run alongside the Google Women Tech Makers event (all welcome).
Cornwall Tech Jam
Tech Jams are a drop in coding session for anyone aged 8 to 80. Younger participants are encouraged to try new software related tasks, from creating platform games to basic electronics and IoT devices. Some even bring their own homemade robots!
We’d love to see you there, either to help us out or to show us something cool that you’ve been working on recently.
- Monthly, on the Second Saturday, alternating between Camborne and Redruth – Details