Jett the robot is more than just a pretty face, he’s also helping students to learn how to code. At the Learning Research Center in Temple, several open houses were held to help promote and inform parents and students alike about the Robots 4 STEM Camp. This camp uses Jett to help teach kids how to code in one of the most natural and easy to use types of coding, block coding. In block coding the user simply picks specific commands (blocks) and stitches them together to create a stream of code commands for the robot to follow. This means that the students are able to learn how to give Jett life, and help him to sing and dance, giving them the instant gratification of seeing their coding work brought to life.
Aside from being fun for students to learn, coding offers great career opportunities after high school or college. Joseph Rocha, an instructor at the camp, previously worked in the private sector before moving on to teaching.
“I work for Del Valle Middle School, and one of the teachers told me that … there is a junior in high school who was already offered a position right out of high school making $87,000 a year,” Rocha said.
With more and more of the world being computer and code based it’s easy to see why this camp has people curious. The natural form of block coding being used is easier for the students to understand.
“It’s been interesting to kind of see how they’re (the students) starting to basically trouble-shoot themselves without even having to ask,” One of the teachers at the camp, Megan Gallagher said. “At first they were having to, but now … they’ll be two steps ahead.”
Overall, the camp offers a great opportunity for kids to get their feet wet in the world of robotics and coding. For more information about the camp, click here.
