Students at top of the class in computer skills
A GROUP of Guernsey students have been developing their computer skills as part of a special pilot programme.
Electronics company Pi-Top has been running a pilot in the UK, USA and South Africa to help students understand how to use a build-it-yourself laptop, powered by the Raspberry Pi.
The Digital Greenhouse was chosen to host the Pi-top Innovation Challenge, which aims to teach students about coding, physical computing and computational thinking.
Fifteen young people were chosen from a large number of applicants.
Adam Collis from Pi-Top said the young people had been doing really well.
‘It is about teaching them 21st-century skills,’ he said.
Economic Development’s head of digital, Lucy Witham, said while young people understood how to use technology as consumers, they did not always understand how technology worked. And in the modern era that understanding was very important.
Elizabeth College student Jean-Luc de Garis, 17, was one of the students taking part in the course. He said the College was now offering coding, but he had missed out on the roll-out, which started with an age group a few years below him.
He said this course had been a fantastic practical way to learn about coding and computers.
‘I think it is really important to bring coding into education,’ he said.
‘Computers are everywhere. I have learnt a lot with these classes. It is a challenge, but it is so rewarding when you make things happen. I have learnt a lot.’
He has been applying for university, but said he was now considering going into industry instead because it would give him more practical skills.
