Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Mount Allison Matt Betti has been interested in robotics from an early age.
He says that thirty years ago it was obvious that computer science was a male-dominated field, and many barriers still exist for women today.
Betti notices a gender divide in his own classroom, and wants to help create an environment where young women and girls are encouraged to explore math and computer science.
With funding from the federal government, Betti has organized a series of outdoor coding workshops for girls between the ages of 7 and 14. The first workshop is this Saturday, July 10th, in the Bill Johnstone Memorial Park.
“All of the stuff that we use is very kid friendly,” says Betti. “A lot of people have this idea that computer programming is sitting around and typing on a computer, but we use block-based programming. It’s like digital Lego, you move things around on the screen and they fit together, and there’s no wrong way to do it. As long as the blocks fit together, you will get something that works.”
Kids will be able to build their own robotic toys and bring home materials to use at home when they are finished.
The program is free, and parents are welcome to stay and learn with their children.
The workshop series is part of a larger project to bring technology to underrepresented groups in the area.
Betti received a $20,000 grant from the federal government after he applied for $500,000 to build a technology center near Tantramar Regional High School. For now, the technology center project is on hold.
“I wanted to build like a tech center for kids that would be full of iPads, computers, printers, 3D printers, all kinds of stuff to just service the needs of young people in town, and hopefully help them learn about technology,” says Betti. “There was a federal grant called Promo Science. I applied for it with this idea, and it was going to be housed in the NB power building on the other side of the highway, just across the street from the high school…but the building is condemned. That wasn’t what stopped me from doing the community center… I asked Promo Science for $500,000 and I got $20,000…Promo Science is run by the federal government, and is aimed at bringing science education to underrepresented groups as a whole. So we picked young women and math and computer science because there is a severe underrepresentation there, but also because of where we are. Rural, South Eastern New Brunswick, there are a lot of children that don’t have access to technology. Part of the idea with the community center was to to just give this to people so that they’re not hindered by by economic status. We’re kind of we’re trying to use this as a springboard to maybe expand our programming.”
The workshop this Saturday (July 10) is divided into two parts based on age (ages 7-10 are from 1PM to 2:30PM, ages 11-14 are from 3PM to 4:30PM).
To register, click here.
