Tech Day Camp

4/7/2017

The Americas, Guyana, Linden, Upper Demerara-Berbice, Guyana

The first activity to kick start Girls in ICT Day 2017 observance across Guyana was a Tech Day Camp organized by the National Frequency Management Unit and the University of Guyana Computer Science Department at Harmony Secondary School in Linden.

Over 30 school girls from six schools in Region 10 participated in a Tech Day Camp. This was the first of five Tech Day Camps which will be held across the country to raise awareness of gender gap in in ICTs and encourage young girls to consider careers in the ICT sector.

The Tech Day Camp featured a presentation on careers in ICT by a female ICT engineer from the National Frequency Management Unit and a talk on cyber security and cyber bullying by two female students from the University of Guyana Computer Science department.

 

An introduction to critical thinking, problem solving and algorithm development was done and an introduction to graphic design was also completed. The girls were involved writing basic algorithms which, a skill they acquired with much ease. They also enjoyed created basic animations. Some of the girls were quite skilled with drawing on the PC.

Girls were motivated by the presentation of the ICT professional. They were interested in the different careers possible in ICTs as they had limited knowledge on the types of jobs that the field has to offer. Additionally, the girls wanted information on what is required to start an ICT career.

The participants were encouraged to like the “Girls in ICT Guyana” Facebook page and post questions and comments all year round.

The female teacher who accompanied the girls was also very interested in the presentations and requested that the team visit individual schools and educate both students and staff on the power and impact of ICTs.

The teacher from Harmony Secondary noted that there is need to have internet access in the school lab and the need for the lab to be networked. It was also suggested that more technical support be offered to the schools with labs because it takes a lot of time to fix problems in the labs when they occur.

Members of the team made note of the queries and in applicable cases pointed participants to resources that could be helpful to them.