PHILIPSBURG:--- For the third consecutive year, International Game Technology (IGT) will host their Coding and Robotics Rock! Camp from July 17 to 28.
Seventy-two students from across the Caribbean, including from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts, and Nevis, Barbados, St Maarten, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will be participating in the virtual camp for the first time. All students are from institutions where IGT has established After School Advantage (ASA) computer centers.
Part of IGT’s Sustainable Play™ programme, After School Advantage is the Company’s flagship community initiative, devoted to providing youth with access to technology while promoting opportunities for digital learning in communities where IGT operates. The programme ensures students have access to participate in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) educational opportunities while developing the knowledge and skills for the jobs of tomorrow.
IGT’s training partner for the Coding and Robotics Rock! Camp is the Mona GeoInformatics Institute (MGI) of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus which has been conducting these classes. MGI, the developers of the curriculum, along with IGT are changing their approach this year as they will be delivering both Levels 1 and 2 courses synchronously.
The theme of this year’s camp is, “Think it, Code it, Solve it.” Students will be challenged to find solutions to issues facing their country in alignment with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Country Manager for IGT Antilles, Shelly Ann Hee Chung says the planning team for the camp purposefully selected this theme to inspire students to think of problems facing society and utilize STEM means to solve them.
She stated, “The content students are taught gives them an awareness of how to use a digital approach to help society. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are our starting points in showing our students where we aim to be.”
The programme is geared towards ensuring that children and youth develop their critical thinking and innovation skills. This year, students in Level One will learn web development, coding, and robotics, and develop problem-solving skills. Level Two students will get an advanced version of the lessons from last year, as well as an introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Regional Vice-President for IGT Latin America and the Caribbean, Juan Pablo Chadid says the students participating in the camp will be well prepared to learn and practice the technology skills to which they are being introduced for the two weeks.
This deep introduction to the digital space will motivate students to pursue careers in any area of STEM, which is a contributing factor in developing the region.
“Our students have access to top resources,” Chadid stated, “and they learn skills needed to pursue lasting careers in STEM to launch their careers. With the age of the technological revolution in mind, students are provided with vital skills to fill the technological gaps in the job market.”
