Hutt City Libraries and Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) have teamed up to pilot a new programme which teaches teens animation, coding, and robotics.
The after-school programme is aimed at Year 10-13 students – those making choices about NCEA subjects as well as those doing NCEA. Called <Tek Ctrl/>, it gives young people a chance to play and learn about various technologies in an informal setting.
Led by Elf Eldridge, Senior Tutor at VUW’s School of Engineering and Computer Science, the pilot gets teenagers involved in technology, a key focus for Hutt City Libraries as it promotes overall digital literacy.
A recent initiative of Hutt City Public Libraries and Victoria University is growing the tech brains of the future.
Long term initiatives like these could contribute to developing more digitally literate and technically skilled employees to work in, for example, Wellington’s Technology Valley.
The pilot is a response to efforts by Wellington tertiaries VUW and WelTec to attract more young people into careers in science, engineering and technology.
The first two sessions, in May, attracted a group of six-10 teens, both girls and boys. The pilot will run for another four weeks before Hutt City Libraries and VUW decide next steps. Indications from the people who’ve come along is that it’s something they’re keen to see more of.
<Tek Ctrl/> is on Thursdays from 3.30-5pm at War Memorial Library, Lower Hutt.
