Empowering Youths for the Future Through Coding

As part of SIM's Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, SIM partnered with Empire Code to organise a two-day coding camp for youths.

19 Dec 2019

5 mins

Students from Hai Sing Catholic School, Yishun Innova Junior College and Ministry of Social and Family Development came together on 4 and 5 December 2019 for an Amazing Code Adventure. The camp which was conducted by SIM’s partner, Empire Code, is part of SIM’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.

With the rise of Artificial Intelligence in our current era, the camp aims to equip youths with the basics of the language of our future: Computer Science. This was implemented through teaching students to build their very own mobile apps and to code through Minecraft: Education Edition.

Picking up coding through Minecraft while learning subjects like History and Chemistry.

The participants also had the chance to explore SIM’s campus as they completed Amazing Race challenges aimed at testing their Computer Science skills.

The participants worked together to programme and maneuver their robots through a maze.

The students found the camp to be beneficial. Here’s what they shared:

	Great Teaching Methods “The teaching methods were great! There was a lot of exploration as we tried block coding in Minecraft. But what is most interesting is that, we’re able to learn subjects like Chemistry while picking up coding.” Vanessa Lee Yishun Innova Junior College
	Gaining Insight into Gameplay “I didn’t realise the amount of coding that goes into games such as Minecraft. It’s been quite eye-opening and enjoyable!” Ryleigh Ong Yishun Innova Junior College
	The Joy of Seeing Things Come to Life “I enjoyed seeing the code working especially when you see the elements moving and doing what it was programmed to do. Though it was frustrating when I couldn’t get it to work, the experience has been fulfilling.” Lim Kger Liang Yishun Innova Junior College
	Application in Real Life “I learned the importance of visualisation in coding and in real life. Without it, the code will not work out the way we want it to. It also helps me to work towards a clear goal and see things from a different perspective.” Cristalle Lim Yishun Innova Junior College

Posted online, 19 Dec 2019