Children’s Computer Camp to be held in June at William Penn University

William Penn University

Want to expand your child’s computer literacy beyond playing games, writing stories and browsing the Internet? Want your child to learn how math can be fun and directly related to computer graphics?

Children’s Computer Camp at William Penn University will be held Monday, June 22–Friday, June 26 from 1:00–5:00 pm for learners who have completed grades 2 through 7. You may drop off your child as early as 12:30 pm and pick them up as late as 5:30 pm each day. The cost for the week is $60 per student.

Participants in the William Penn CCC will learn to program animations and simple computer games by using the Scratch visual programming environment. Scratch was designed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab especially for elementary and middle school learners, but is enjoyed by programmers of all ages. It is used to design projects which develop creativity, solve problems, and communicate ideas. One of last year’s students commented, “I loved learning how to plan and get the computer to do exactly what I wanted.”

Each day participants will learn how mathematics is used in computer programming. Topics include manipulating shapes, working with different number systems, and using networks. Students will spend time working at a computer as well as participating in some physically active settings.

Individual learning will be guided by Professor Judy Williams, Professor Breanna Garrett, and William Penn students majoring in math and/or computer science in the Musco Technology Center Computer Lab, Room 104 on the Oskaloosa campus. Participants will be given a flash drive and other materials needed for the camp and for continuing with Scratch on their home computers.

For more information about the content of the camp, contact Judy Williams at williamsj@wmpenn.edu.

Registration will begin Monday, May 11 and participants will be limited to the first 24 registrants.