Girls Into Coding: 2020 Highlights and What 2021 Holds
What a year it has been. Because of the unprecedented Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, communities have completely transformed. Businesses have irrevocably changed — and in some instances, sadly disappeared. Physically, families have been apart — but they’ve also learned how to stay closer via digital means. We take a look back over 2020 and glance forward to what 2021 might bring in terms of STEM education and tech education, especially for our children.
What the Pandemic has Taught Us
Right-back in April of 2020, we realised that the pandemic was showing us that it’s more important than ever that girls get a head start with tech education. More women in tech and STEM fields like science, engineering, and the medical research industry means more people fighting the pandemic. It also means more people bringing us the digital solutions that have kept many of us sane during these challenging times.
Daily downloads of Zoom increased by a factor of 30 this year, making it the top-downloaded app, at least in March and April. As people realised it really wasn’t safe to meet up in person, digital solutions like Zoom, Facebook lives and rooms, Microsoft Teams, and Skype suddenly became the norm.
This became about more than just staying in touch, connected to the faces we love. Zoom technology-powered how doctors spoke to their patients. It’s clear that, as we move into the future, these adaptations will be here to stay. After all, why risk an immunosuppressed patient coming to a clinic full of sick people when you can examine them safely via an app?
The Digital Divide
The pandemic has, however, highlighted the digital divide like never before. Just as we’ve learnt that technology is absolutely vital for keeping us connected and even healthy, so we have seen how easily those without access to these technologies can get left behind. According to the World Economic Forum, nearly half the world still has no internet access. In the developed world accessibility increases to 87%. That’s still 13% of people in cities and suburbs who can’t get online. When education goes online-only, and exam boards base results on grades achieved over the year, this puts many young people at a serious disadvantage.
It’s more important, now than ever, to ensure that everyone has access to internet and a device to connect and communicate with. Around the world, several schemes have been doing just that. In San Francisco, a cybersecurity company donated 53 laptops to underprivileged students to ensure they didn’t miss out on online learning while schools were shut. Meanwhile, in Yorkshire, a team of volunteers from the University of Sheffield took time out to help those who couldn’t access medical care via the internet, or who needed tutoring because they couldn’t access education.
Of course, the dream is that we won’t need these volunteers in the future; that everyone will have access to the digital connections they need. But, it’s great to see that in a crisis situation, communities can come together to support each other.
Girls Into Coding: Our 2020 Achievements
We’re proud to have adapted to support our young women in tech during the pandemic. Girls Into Coding (GIC) has now hosted six virtual events, held via Zoom with sponsorship from Arm and Angular London Meetup. The last event, Virtual Girls Into Coding #6 had nearly 30 girls engaged with five different STEM activities, including:
· Microbit robotics
· Making a Crawl bot
· A Robot Simulator
· Learning about Robots and Behaviour
· 3D design
Some of these workshops were possible thanks to bespoke robotics kits created by young educator and GIC founder Avye. These were sent out to participants so that everyone who joined in had exactly what they needed to get the most out of every session.
Avye led the Microbit workshop, teaching participants about motors, distance sensors, and coding with Python. Peer to peer learning at these virtual events is so powerful as it shows young girls interested in STEM that they really can do anything they want.
Feedback from these events is that parents are now actively looking for more coding opportunities for their kids, especially hands-on experience that encourages girls to stay engaged and enthused.
As well as these exciting activities, these virtual events include inspiring talks from women in tech and STEM roles. Kids got the chance to hear established technology pioneers talk about using technology as a force for positive change. There have also been practical talks, such as discovering how machine learning has become integrated into our daily lives, and how it’s still developing and changing.
Looking Forward: Girls in Stem in 2021
We’ve got a lot to look forward to in 2021, especially as an effective vaccine could mean the return to face-to-face events for many people. What we’d love to see is that people continue to use the technologies in place to support those with disabilities or other limitations who can’t make it to physical events. This ensures no one gets left behind. All school children should have access to these connective technologies. Plus, they should also have a range of STEM education opportunities to choose from. After all, the next generation of scientists and engineers could be saving our lives in any future pandemic. We need to make sure STEM education is on the table for everyone.
We need to address the digital divide. We’d love to see more examples of tech companies and governments globally supporting underprivileged families and children. Education should be a right, not a privilege, and the pandemic has shown that kids without internet access inevitably fall behind.
We need to make sure we continue to inspire girls in technology and STEM subjects. As the world opens up more, it would be great to see more events and opportunities for girls to join in and get inspired. In the meantime, organisations like Girls Into Coding are on hand to ensure that even when we’re stuck inside, our girls can still connect and inspire each other — and us, too.
