25-INTRO-A Introduction To Coding (afternoon)

Overview

This computer coding camp is aimed at high-school students in Dominica who are interested in computers and who would like to learn how to program computers. Programming computers allows for anything from automating repetitive tasks to building complex business applications.

Summer Coding’s “Introduction To Coding” will cover basic to intermediate coding concepts, with the goal of equipping students with the tools necessary to become productive, real-work programmers. To make learning these abstract concepts more tactile, lessons will utilize the Raspberry Pi Pico, a low-cost, high performance microcontroller board – allowing easy interfacing with hardware such as LED lights, OLED displays, speakers, temperature sensors etc.; building blocks for real-world, custom solutions.

This course will be presented in two groups: a morning group (8:30am to 12:30pm) and an afternoon group (1pm to 5pm), and will meet every weekday for three weeks. Each group will have a capacity of thirty (30) participants, to meet the aim of 10:1 student/instructor ratio. The camp will be instructed by two career software engineers, with the assistance of a Secondary school Computer Science teacher. Each session will be broken into three hourly long sessions, with a 10 minute long break, followed by a 30 minute break.

Who is this program for?

The three week course is designed for motivated high-school students who have an interest in computers. Previous computer coding experience is not necessary, as this will be an introductory course. Access to a computer, with some internet access, is strongly recommended (though not strictly required) as companion reading materials will be provided only as digital media.

Enrolment

Enrolment to either the morning or afternoon classes will be conducted through www.summercoding.com, where an online profile will be created for the enrolling student by a parent/guardian. The deadline for enrolment is June 30th 2025.  The enrolment fee for these inaugural sessions is $200 (XCD).

The venue

The Saint Mary’s Academy will be the gracious hosts of the 2025 Summer Coding “Introduction to Coding” groups. Located in Roseau along Turkey Lane, the Saint Mary’s Academy (SMA) is well suited for hosting high school students, providing them with both a well equipped computer lab, and available facilities.

Materials and other provisions

To facilitate this course, the following materials will be provided: digital books on programming, a microcontroller, a breakout board to simplify use of the microcontroller, various components to use with the microcontroller.

Snacks and beverages will also be provided during breaks, which is included in the enrolment fee. Students are welcome to bring along additional, well packaged, refreshments.