Girl Scouts learn coding for better future
The Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma is teaching Scouts about science, technology, engineering and math, which helps them earn patches and prepare for the future.
Google partnered with the Girl Scouts for “Teach Me How to Code,” an event Tuesday where Scouts used iPads to program Moana, a character from an animated motion picture, to move through falling bricks. They then taught women in the community what they learned.
“There’s different patterns, so you have to find those patterns to go where you have to go and if you follow those patterns correctly, you finish the level,” Girl Scout Kailyee Cotterell said.
Shannon Evers, the CEO of Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma, said teaching about technology is essential.
“The girls are learning about coding because they’re not going to be able to succeed when they graduate high school or college if they don’t know anything about technology and about coding,” Evers said. “It is going to be part of everything that we do in our daily lives.”
The event was in conjunction with the Coded_Couture exhibit and Learning Gallery at Oklahoma Contemporary, sponsored by Google.
“Today we know at Google that we have a gender gap in the workforce,” said Andrew Silvestri, head of community and public affairs for Google in Oklahoma.
Evers said many troop leaders are unfamiliar with teaching about STEM, so STEM Kits in a Box were designed for leaders to read the instructions and let the Scouts learn by exploration.
“Part of that is failing and learning how to fail, and then get back up and try something new,” she said.
The kits are available for all grades. Scouts earn STEM patches after completing all the activities in their level.
Evers said they might not always know when they are learning about STEM because the activities are a lot of fun.
Silvestri said the benefits of teaching STEM can be long-range.
“It can pertain to really anything that they hope to do professionally and on top of that, it can really impact social change, both where they live in their communities and where they work and play,” he said.
The Learning Gallery lets children interact with robotics and smart home features. Coded_ Couture is an exhibit combining fashion and technology.
Both are open until Aug. 14 at Oklahoma Contemporary, 3000 General Pershing Blvd.