Outreach Activities
One of my favourite things about being an educator is getting to share how much fun learning can be. And what better way to do that than doing robotics and programming with kids!
A fun Video made by one of our CSCI volunteers for this year's Blender Workshop!
Nanaimo Coding Club. Fall 2022 Coding Club starts Oct 12. Sign up: STEMantics at VIU
Nanaimo Coding Club
In the fall of 2017, working in conjunction with UVic's Science Venture, we started an after-school coding club at VIU for Nanaimo youth. Now running under VIU's STEMantics Program, this club is run by undergraduate students from VIU's Department of Computing Science. Participants learn fundamental computer science concepts in a fun and supportive environment, while our students get a chance to share what they've learned in their program with the next generation of coders.
Resources
Looking for activities you can try yourself?
Past Outreach Activities
Deep Bay Maker Day
In the wake of the success of the Nanaimo Coding Club, we collaborated again with Science Venture to run a Maker Day at VIU's Deep Bay Marine Field Station. In this full-day workshop, participants became experts in a robotics technology, learned about some of the challenges faced by species found on our coast, and then worked in teams to come up with creative ways to use technology to protect marine species.
Robotics on Lasqueti Island
Way back in 2009 and 2010 I had the pleasure of coaching FIRST Lego League teams on Lasqueti Island. False Robotics and Team Turtle were probably the only teams from an off-grid community to compete in FIRST Lego League. They not only competed, but Team Turtle won the Vancouver Island round and got to compete at the next round at BCIT.
Lasqueti Robotics V2!
Two Lasqueti kids participated in the Deep Bay Maker Day, and were so excited about robotics that I was invited to visit Lasqueti's False Bay School to run Robotics Workshops for the kids in May 2018. The school had access to Spheros for the month of May, so, along with two lucky VIU Computing Science students, we did two days of robotics at False Bay School. All the kids in the school (K-6) had a chance to play, create, and problem solve with robotics in this fun workshop.
FBS is unique in that it is powered by Photovoltaic panels that were funded in part by the elementary students' fundraising efforts.