Austin Peay adds elementary, middle school summer coding camps

Junior coders participate in a coding class at Austin Peay during the spring 2019 semester.

Junior coders participate in a coding class during the spring 2019 semester at Austin Peay.

(Published April 30, 2019)

After a successful 2018, Austin Peay State University is expanding its coding camps this summer to include elementary and middle school students.

And the new campers will get a bonus: They’ll program and work with a robot.

“I’m excited about all the coding camps, but I’m really excited about the elementary school students getting to work with a robot,” said Dr. James Church, assistant professor in the APSU Department of Computer Science and Information Technology. “They’ll watch the robot move around the room. They’ll program the robot with really simple commands. They’ll give the robot a set of instructions, and the robot will fulfill those instructions.”

The robot – the Wonder Workshop Dash – offers children a way to watch their virtual coding turn into tangible experiences in real time as it interacts with and responds to its surroundings, according to the company’s website.

Meet the robot who will star at this summer's coding camps

MORE ABOUT THE CAMPS

Austin Peay will host seven camps over six weeks, and they’re open to incoming kindergartners through incoming college freshmen.

“For the younger children, what I really want to convey is computers work by following the instructions you give them,” Church said. “For the older students, I hope to convey just how much work, thought and detail goes into their favorite video games, that they’re a tremendous amount of work. This is an art form to be appreciated.”

The camps are offered in half-day and full-day formats, Monday-Friday, and are available weekly June 10-July 12. The cost for the half-day camps is $99 each week, and the cost for the all-day camps is $199 each week other than the four-day Python-programming week ($179).

All camps are led by Austin Peay computer science bachelor’s and master’s students and overseen by APSU professors. The camps will be in Austin Peay’s state-of-the-art computer labs. All equipment and software are provided.

Bridget Cloud leads a student through a task at last year's summer coding camps at Austin Peay.

Here are the camps:

K-2^nd Grade Tynker Coding for Kids:

When: June 10-14. Half-day 9 a.m.-noon. No lunch, but snacks provided.
What: Tynker is a visual programming tool used to teach children how to make games and programs. Parents are allowed to sit in, but don’t have to.
Deadline: Application deadline is June 3. Register here.

3^rd-5^th Grade Tynker Coding for Kids:

When: June 10-14. Half-day 1:30-4:30 p.m. No lunch, but snacks provided.
What: Tynker is a visual programming tool used to teach children how to make games and programs.
Deadline: Application deadline is June 3. Register here.

6^th-8^th Grade Construct 2 Coding for Middle Schoolers:

When: June 17-21. Half-day 9 a.m.-noon. No lunch, but snacks provided.
What: Construct 2 is a powerful ground-breaking HTML5 game creator designed specifically for 2-dimensional games.
Deadline: Application deadline is June 10. Register here.

6^th-8^th Grade Construct 2 Coding for Middle Schoolers:

When: June 17-21. Half-day 1:30-4:30 p.m. No lunch, but snacks provided.
What: Construct 2 is a powerful ground-breaking HTML5 game creator designed specifically for 2-dimensional games.
Deadline: Application deadline is June 10. Register here.

9^thGrade-College Freshmen HTML, CSS, JavaScript Programming:

When: June 24-28. All-day 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Lunch, snacks and free T-shirt provided.
What: Learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript, the languages of the internet and web.
Deadline: Application deadline is June 17. Register here.

9^th Grade-College Freshmen Python Programming:

When: July 1, 2, 3, 5. All-day 9 a.m.-3 p.m. No camp on July 4. Lunch, snacks and free T-shirt provided.
What: Learn Python, the hottest programming language.
Deadline: Application deadline is June 24. Register here.

9^th Grade-College Freshmen Unity C# Game Development:

When: July 8-12. All-day 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Lunch, snacks and free T-shirt provided.
What: Learn Unity C#, one of the most popular game development engines.
Deadline: Application deadline is July 1. Register here.

TO LEARN MORE

For more about the coding camps, visit apsu.edu/csci/camp/coding.
For more information, email codingcamp@apsu.edu or call 931-221-7840.

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