Middle School Club Ignites Girls' Interest in Computer Programing

Bruce Lemoine, MS Technology Teacher
The Middle School Programing Club for Girls has recently started exploring ways to merge real world objects into the world of computer programming. In this video, using the Makey Makey invention kit and Scratch, two students fashioned piano keys from Play-Doh, and with a circuit board and wires, turned the Play-Doh into an input device.

Created last year, the club aims to encourage fifth and sixth grade girls to explore computer science through the use of the Alice 3D programming language created at Carnegie Mellon University.  However, many of the girls have opted, instead, to program in the Scratch computer language developed at MIT.  Since all fifth graders learn to program using Scratch, club members often bounce back and forth, playing with the Sim-like environment of Alice, and then furthering their expertise in Scratch.
 
Indeed, it should be said that the boys of the Middle School have just as much fun learning programming; however, this club for girls allows for a uniquely intimate environment that is kindling more girls’ interests in programming and may help to increase the ranks of girls who devote themselves to science and math in the future at Country School and beyond.
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