Successful Kodkupan Flemingsberg pilot ahead of autumn term
During the Kodkupan award evening in Flemingsberg, parents got to see the results of middle school students’ programming projects. Games and animations from the project were shown, prompting laughter and applause.
Kodkupan in Flemingsberg is a project that enables children and young people to try their hand at programming. In an initial pilot scheme held in the spring, about ten middle school students from Vistaskolan practised programming and logical thinking under the guidance of students from KTH and Södertörn University.
At this, the last event of term, parents were able to see the results of the children’s efforts.
“It’s such fun to see what they’ve done. This really is a timely activity and one that can hopefully trigger interest in an area that is so important in professional life,” says Shewen, a parent of one of the participating students.
The scheme is run as a collaboration between KTH, Södertörn University, Kodcentrum, Flemingsbergs Science and Huddinge and Botkyrka municipalities. The course’s material comes from collaborative organisation Kodcentrum, a non-profit that organises digital creation activities.
“It’s been great fun, even though I already knew a bit about programming,” says William, one of the students who took part in the project.
As several of the students had already tested programming in school, course leaders were challenged to produce extra assignments throughout the term.
Three KTH students, Agata, Karim and Razzaq, who are all studying computer technology, were also present at the event. None of them had previously taught such small children.
“Sure, it was a little scary; but it turned out to be fun and straightforward. They’ve learned quickly and thrown themselves into the tasks,” says Razzaq.
During the autumn, the project will be followed up and more schools from the local area will be invited to participate. The local Widerströmska gymnasiet may also be involved in creating additional links between the different schools.
The project has been initiated by the campus group in Flemingsberg and is run with the aim of broadening take-up of higher education, especially among children who have limited educational opportunities.