Tech camp more than code and robots

Old and new technology mixed during the start of a four-day summer camp aimed at matching young Iowans with technology-related skills.

A Commodore 64 and a working Atari VCS (think late ’70s, early ’80s) found themselves near a Raspberry Pi computer and an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset (both from this decade). Meanwhile, nearby students played with code to make their own programs while others put together circuitry to eventually run robotic arms.

All of that was part of the first day of Tech Journey’s summer technology camp, now in its third year. A nonprofit, Tech Journey’s goal is to help central Iowa students with limited resources engage with technology, hopefully helping them with their future careers.

“We’re not saying they need to have a career in technology, but what we’re saying is technology is a very important part of all our careers,” said Tony Kioko, the co-founder of Tech Journey and the assistant director of IT at Principal Financial Group.

Kioko’s comments were a common theme at the camp, where organizers said they don’t want to push kids into technology careers. Rather, they said they want to expose them to how most jobs involve technology.

“We don’t want to force everybody into becoming programmers. That’s not our goal at all … but they have to understand that almost everything we do, even if it doesn’t seem like technology, it all has programs behind it,” said Cecil Williams, who helped design the camp’s curriculum.

Some students, like Rabsa Naseer, are already planning for careers in tech. Naseer, 15, said she wants to pursue a job as a programmer or software engineer.

Even if she doesn’t pursue those types of jobs, she said coding can help her with other careers.

“I have always been a little more comfortable with coding, “ Naseer said. “Once you know code, you can go into other fields.”

Max Muhm, however, was among the students less set on a tech-related job. Instead, the 14-year-old said he’d like to have a job where he can work with nature.

“I don’t know much about coding, so I thought I’d come and learn more about it … I just think this is a fun thing to do in case I change my mind,” said Muhm, who is in his second year at the camp.

Meg Anderson, Principal’s chief information security officer, opened up the camp by asking students to stick with technology even if it seems tough.

“If you allow yourself to be intimidated and just walk away because you think you can’t do it … then you’re never going to get back to it,” Anderson said in a keynote speech.

Kioko said about 50 students are attending this year’s camp, held in Des Moines Public Schools’ Central Campus. Slightly more than half of the students are girls, he said.

The four-day program culminates Friday with an open house and demos of what students created during the week.

Friday won’t mark the end of Tech Journey’s involvement with its students, however, Kioko said. He said Tech Journey wants to avoid a “one-touch” approach.

“We plan to stay with the students throughout high school and we’re beginning to explore when they get into college how do we stay with them and how do we encourage them to stay with Iowa companies,” Kioko said.

Students get dose of virtual reality

Students attending Tech Journey’s technology summer camp Tuesday got to try a number of pieces of technology, such as a late-1970s Atari game console.

The Des Moines Register also brought along its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. The Register used the headset to help report its Harvest of Change project, which looked at the changing dynamics of life in rural Iowa.

During demos, students and camp organizer’s were able to walk around a virtual recreation of the farm owned by the Dammann family, a key set of characters in Harvest of Change.

“It felt like I was there and when the people are talking, you feel like you’re in front of them,” said Max Muhm, one of the students who tried the headset.