Why coding?

Last week, the top 20 CODE4FUN robotics students went on a special tour to the Magic Lab at University of Technology Sydney.

The Magic Lab is a pioneer and a leader conducting transdisciplinary research into strategic and disruptive innovations that will transform society in the coming decade. The Lab is home to the only PR2 robot in Australia and programs for Pepper, Nao, and Aibo as well as custom-built robots.

This excursion was organised precisely for those CODE4FUN students, who has shown their huge interest in robotics and artificial intelligence. All the students were given the opportunity to learn from UTS Human-Robot Interaction researchers about the latest innovations in robotics technology. The students also participated in robotics workshops and got hands-on experience designing a social behaviour for the Pepper robot, the world’s first social humanoid robot able to recognise faces and basic human emotions.

CODE4FUN Head of Teaching Jesse Clark, who is also UTS Robotics researcher and a core member of the UTS Centre for Artificial Intelligence, guided the students through all the aspects of programming Pepper to help them understand how robot’s mind works. It was absolutely amazing to see how each student in his or her personal manner interacted with the Pepper robots and learn from them as well.

Thank you very much the Magic Lab team for having us and for giving our students such a valuable knowledge and experience in the world of the future and robots.

Check out some of the photos from the day below:

The resume as we know it may become a thing of the past thanks to the
imagination and inventive skills of Sydney coding students in the CODE4FUN
Christmas Coding Challenge 2018.

With employers spending an average of six seconds scanning a resume, and
companies like Microsoft receiving over two million applicants a year, knowing how
to stand out in an increasingly competitive and tech-driven world will be essential
for the next generation of jobseekers.

To help prepare them for the jobs of the future, CODE4FUN’s Create an
Interactive Resume Challenge saw over 280 students from 43 schools across
Sydney create a digital resume highlighting their skills, interests and achievements.
And after months of hard work, the impressive results show the future is in good
hands.

Judged on their creativity and originality, as well as their coding, design and
animation skills, students turned the traditional resume on its head by incorporating
gaming elements, animation and music to spark engagement and interest for the
user. The judging panel was impressed with the breadth of inventive submissions
that included an underwater submarine journey and an intergalactic space battle.

Thanks to the challenge supporters, Officeworks and ASUS, every participant took
home a prize and the three first place winners each took home an ASUS laptop.
The top 45 students were invited to visit the Microsoft Startup Hub Microsoft
Reactor Sydney and met with Annie Parker, Microsoft’s Global Head of Startups.

“I was surprised to learn how competitive it can be to get a job at places like Google
and Microsoft,” says Cooper Heriot, a student at The Forest High School, who won
first prize for his submarine journey resume that demonstrated his love for
animation and underwater photography. “The challenge really made me think about
how I could stand out from the crowd.”

“I had so much fun thinking of new and creative ways for me to share my skills and
passions with other people rather than just sticking with the traditional paper
resume that everyone else does,” says Kai Ishikawa from St Ives High School, who
won a top place for his cosmic space game resume that reveals his interests along
the way.

“The challenge really made me think about how I can do things differently to get
noticed and make my resume interesting and engaging for others to read,” added
Rafael Deubler from Rose Bay Secondary College who also took out a top prize for
his interactive resume that cleverly mimics the Microsoft desktop, complete with a
trashcan icon containing his ‘hopes and dreams’.

The challenge was the latest CODE4FUN initiative aimed at inspiring the next wave
of innovators and change makers, encouraging kids to develop valuable analytical
and presentation skills. Digital literacy is fast becoming a critical workplace skill with
coding one of the most vital languages of the new knowledge-based economy. The
more kids are equipped with the confidence and knowledge of technology and how
to use it, the better positioned they will be in their future careers.

Co-Founder and Director of CODE4FUN, Grigory Punanov says, “We had an
overwhelmingly positive response to this challenge because the students were
given the opportunity to not only showcase their passions and talents, but to also
think outside the box and challenge the way resumes are traditionally presented.
We continue to be amazed by the inventiveness of our students, the quality of work
continues to improve with every challenge.”

You are welcome to check the winners’ resumes below:

Cooper – First place & ASUS laptop in Unity 3D category, Pro coding class in Mosman

Project link: https://adiggins.itch.io/cooper-heriot-resume

Rafael – First place & ASUS laptop in Java & Processing category, Pro coding class in Bondi Junction

Project link: http://raf-resume.herokuapp.com/

Kai – First place & ASUS laptop in Scratch category, Advanced coding class in Glenhaven

Project link: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/247640805/

The NSW Government is helping kids get creative with the new Creative Kids initiative. From 1^st January 2019, parents of children aged 4.5 – 18 years old can apply for a voucher with a value of up to $100 per child per calendar year to put towards the cost of their child creative activities – this includes Coding!

At CODE4FUN, we are very excited to be a part of this NSW Government program as a registered Creative Kids provider. It’s a great opportunity to let kids find their passion and learn new skills.

How you can get $100 back on your child’s enrolment with CODE4FUN:

APPLY FOR A CREATIVE KID’S VOUCHER

Please go to Service NSW website and sign in into your account using your credentials:

APPLY NOW

 

ENROL YOUR CHILD WITH CODE4FUN

COURSES CAMPS

When enrolling, you will need to enter your child’s name exactly as it shown on your voucher, your child’s date of birth and 16-digit voucher code.

GET YOUR CREATIVE KID’S $100 REFUND

We will be processing refunds fortnightly. Please keep in mind your refund will be sent to the exact same card that was used to make the enrolment.

If you have already enrolled your child in for any of CODE4FUN courses or camps, you still are able to claim your Creative Kid’s refund from us. In this case, please simply send your Creative Kids 16-digit voucher code, your child’s date of birth and your child’s name exactly as it shown on your voucher via info@code4fun.com.au with subject Creative Kids / your child’s name (Creative Kids / John Smith).

IMPORTANT:

Please note once your Creative Kids voucher was paid by CODE4FUN, under no circumstances you will be eligible to claim any other refunds from CODE4FUN even though you may want to cancel your child’s registration with CODE4FUN.

Last week, Microsoft Reactor – the biggest Microsoft Startup Hub in the Southern Hemisphere – hosted the top 45 students of the CODE4FUN Christmas Coding Challenge. It was an incredible opportunity for our students to meet, learn and be inspired by Annie Parker, who is Microsoft’s Global Head of Startups; Dave Glover, Regional Developer Advocate; Lynn Dang, Head of Talent Acquisition; Dr Neil Roodyn, VR Advocate and Michael Watson, Microsoft Reactor Program manager.

The students learnt about cutting-edge technology such as AI, Machine Learning and Virtual Reality. Dave Glover helped our students to try machine learning for themselves and they taught a computer how to distinguish a banana from other fruits. It was so much fun to see how the machine did exactly what it was programmed to do and pick the banana from a table of many objects.

The students also had the opportunity to experience Microsoft’s ‘Mixed Reality’ headsets. During the experience, they learnt about space and saw the connection between virtual and real reality.

One of the main takeaways from Annie Parker is that it’s never too late to start to learn to code. She was confident that many of the talented CODE4FUN students would one day become Microsoft Developers and use their skills to make positive change.

Thank you very much to all the Microsoft staff for inspiring our students and encouraging them to continue their coding journey. Our students are more excited than ever about the endless possibilities of coding and the opportunities this important skill will create for them in the future.

The 2018 CODE4FUN Christmas Coding Challenge is proudly supported by Officeworks and ASUS.

We will be announcing the details of the next CODE4FUN Coding Challenge in early March 2019. We invite all our students to participate in the next challenge for their chance to win fantastic prizes, visit a leading tech company and of course, learn and have lots of fun along the way!

Check out some of the photos from the day below: