At Ridegtown District High School where the coding club shows off their skills by operating robots with their tablets. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)At Ridegtown District High School where the coding club shows off their skills by operating robots with their tablets. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)
Chatham

Elementary Students Become Skilled In Coding (GALLERY)

Computer science is evolving along with technology, as a few Grade 7 and 8 students at the Ridgetown District High School display through their coding capabilities.

Every Wednesday for about 30 minutes, the coding club meets in the library to mix fun with learning.

School Librarian Morgan Raymend says each week they try something new with coding.

"Learning computer science is so important because there are so many computer science jobs out there that aren't being filled," says Raymend.

During their Coding Extravaganza on October 12, the students used coding on their tablets in order to operate toy robots.

"On their tablets they'll have programs like Scratch or Blockly," says Raymend. "It looks very basic but when you actually see inside of it, it is like the Java script or HTML."

She says instead of having the kids write long codes in order to get the robot to move, the students use block coding which makes it a lot less intimidating.

"I know it can be a little daunting when you see just a long list of code but this way it's colourful, it's in blocks and you're playing with colourful robots," says Raymend.

The coding club came to be when ninth grader Austin Gagnier brought it up to Raymend two years ago.

He says with technology evolving so rapidly, students should have the opportunity to use these tools in their education.

"I was exposed to coding two years ago so this gives me the advantage to give these students the gift that I got," says Gagnier. "It also helps me learn because as I'm teaching them, they're teaching me as well."

Later on in the year, all Grade 7 and 8 students in the school will participate in an hour of code, to get an inside look at what the coding club does.

At Ridegtown District High School for the Coding Extravaganza. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)At Ridegtown District High School for the Coding Extravaganza. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)

At Ridegtown District High School for the Coding Extravaganza. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)At Ridegtown District High School for the Coding Extravaganza. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)

At Ridegtown District High School where the coding club shows off their skills by operating robots with their tablets. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)At Ridegtown District High School where the coding club shows off their skills by operating robots with their tablets. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)

At Ridegtown District High School where the coding club shows off their skills by operating robots with their tablets. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)At Ridegtown District High School where the coding club shows off their skills by operating robots with their tablets. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)

At Ridegtown District High School where the coding club shows off their skills by operating robots with their tablets. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)At Ridegtown District High School where the coding club shows off their skills by operating robots with their tablets. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)

At Ridegtown District High School where the coding club shows off their skills by operating robots with their tablets. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)At Ridegtown District High School where the coding club shows off their skills by operating robots with their tablets. October 12, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Vega)

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