Tag Archives: Coding

News, SCHOOLS

Mounthawk Student Reaches Final Of Coding Competition

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Samuel Garvey with teacher Sadhbh Brosnan.

FOURTEEN-year-old Samuel Garvey, a second-year student in Mounthawk Secondary School in Tralee, represented his county as Kerry’s sole finalist at the National Scratch Coding Competition.

Scratch is a visual programming language that helps children to build key coding skills in a fun and interactive way.

There were 280 entries this year in the national finals organised by Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software and the Irish Computer Society.

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The competition brought together top-scoring teams from primary and secondary schools and clubs across Ireland, with participants aged six to eighteen years of age demonstrating their Scratch projects to judges at the University of Limerick.

Samuel’s game, an eight-bit shooter called Grim Hallows, took him seven months to develop and the panel of judges were very impressed with the quality and originality of his project. To play the game click the following link: https://bit.ly/3nUNB5E

Tom Dandoy, a senior student at Ennisytmon CBS, County Clare won the overall prize with Spaceship Battles 3, a computer game he built and for which, he also composed the score. Among the themes of this year’s entries were healthy eating, social inclusion, recycling and poetry.

News

Open Evening To Learn More About Course With High Employment Prospects

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THE newly-established Kerry College of Further Education and Training is collaborating again with Code Institute to offer an intensive classroom-based delivery of their online coding boot camp to train 14 local candidates to become junior software developers in just 15 weeks.

In a first for Kerry, the accelerated bootcamp programme is the only classroom version of the highly acclaimed course run outside of Dublin and employment prospects are high with 86 per cent of Code Institute graduates finding full time work within six months of qualification.

Students can come from any background as the course is designed to take people from little or no knowledge of coding to job ready software developer.

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The ideal student will have attempted one of the free coding course online tools, like Udemy or Code Academy.

Tuition fees are normally €8,900 per student but the 14 places available on this course are free of charge. Recruitment has started and the course begins on December 2 in Tralee.

Successful applicants will complete a 5-Day Coding Challenge and Recruitment Interview. Places are being filled on a first come, first served basis.

The Code Institute team will visit the Kerry College’s Monavalley Campus on Wednesday 23 October at 6pm – to deliver a course briefing which outlines the course, success stories and the career paths possible from this qualification. This is a free event – but attendees must pre-register:  https://codeinstitute.net/code-institute-open-evening/kerry/

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PHOTOS: IT Tralee Summer Camp Kids Showcase Their Skills

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Droning on…Oliver Kwiatkowskr and Ciaran O’Connell controlling the drones with Stephanie Collins (centre), Shauna Courtney and Katie Casey at the IT Tralee Summer Camp showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean

IMPRESSIVE ingenuity and scientific skills were on display at a summer camp in IT Tralee this week.

The college was running two summer camps and hosting over 80 children aged from 10yrs-16yrs and on Friday morning they hosted a ‘Showcase event’ for both camps in the Kerry Sports Academy.

The ‘Goalmine’ camp created an experiential learning environment allowing all participants between 12 years and 16 years of age to explore their individual entrepreneurial, creative and innovative mind-set, using learning tools such as design driven innovation and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®.

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Using thinking tools such as LEGO Serious Play and Design Thinking, each member of the team invested their time and money into an idea they created and had the opportunity to win back the camp registration fee of €50.

Kids exhibited their week’s work including new business ideas/solutions using LEGO models and computing applications focused on tasks including manipulating robots and drones around obstacle courses, developing games and creating animations.

The other camp, ‘STEAMing Ahead’, was a 5-day experiential learning camp suitable for beginners interested in exploring the world of coding, robotics and animation.

STEAMing Ahead created a fun-based learning environment, allowing all participants between the ages of 10 years and 16 years of age to explore coding and areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM).

Participants were introduced to coding using graphical programming tools, similar to Scratch. They worked as individuals and in teams to develop applications focused on tasks that included, manipulating robots and drones around obstacle courses, developing games and creating animations. Scroll down for photos…

Robert Courtney at the IT Tralee Summer Camp showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean
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Aisling and Sorcha Ní Chathasaigh with Swithin Pais at the IT Tralee Summer Camp showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Aaron McGowan, Sean Thibeaud, Sean Barry and Timmy McElligott at the IT Tralee Summer Camp showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean
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Chloe O’Sullivan, Caragh Kenny O’Sullivan, Pawel Kowalski and Emma O’Sullivan at the IT Tralee Summer Camp showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Participants at the IT Tralee Summer Camp showcase on Friday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Entertainment, News, WHAT'S ON

Free Coding Event For Young People To Take Place In IT Tralee

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STUDENTS aged from seven to 17 are invited to a major coding event in IT Tralee next week.

Mega Dojo 2018 takes place at IT Tralee North Campus on Saturday October 13.

With support from CoderDojo Ireland, CoderDojo MidWest and the Higher Education Authority, IT Tralee invite young people aged from 7-17 to a day of free coding.

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Students can learn how to code games, websites, electronic kits and more, with sessions being offered in Scratch, HTML, Python and Micro bits electronics.

There will be options for complete newcomers to the world of coding, as well as sessions for those who are ready for more challenging activities.

There will also be opportunities to see and hear what the cutting-edge technology companies are doing in their region.

This is a free ticketed event and registration is essential. Visit www.megadojo.ie  to register,  but hurry as places will be snapped up.

Institute of Technology Tralee is one of six third level institutes teaming up with local dojos to offer free coding workshops at MegaDojo 2018, as part of Codeweek EU.

With 5,000+ expected to participate, the number of young people participating will be higher than ever, and it will be the largest coordinated free youth coding event in the world.

Third level Institutes of Technology in Limerick, Cork, Dundalk, Letterkenny, and Maynooth University will also host MegaDojos this year.

News, SCHOOLS

Kerry Schools Invited To Compete In National Coding Competition

 

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KERRY students are invited to take part in a National Scratch Competition for Ireland’s young coders from Junior Infants all the way up to sixth year.

Scratch is a visual programming language that encourages children to develop essential coding skills through fun and interactive learning.

The competition, which is run by Irish Computer Society (ICS), will take place during Tech Week 2017, April 23 to 29. Registration is now open and will close on Friday, February 17.

Now in its seventh year, and rapidly growing, the National Scratch Competition has established itself among teachers and students as a leading platform and showcase for Ireland’s aspiring digital creators. Interest and participation has been increasing every year. In 2016, the national competition attracted over 700 young entrants, with 25 projects making it to the national finals.

The long term goal of Scratch is to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects.

Scratch is open to individual students, classes and groups from Junior Infants right up to Sixth Year in secondary and after-school coding clubs, such as Coderdojo. This year there is also a pilot Special Needs category.

Further information and registration details can be found on scratch.ics.ie or www.scratch.ie