PI Jam Foundation is an NGO aiming to enhance the quality of computer education throughout India. They work to nurture skills in programming, problem solving and design thinking through hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) approach. In order to boost the knowledge and know-how of technology in our students from Hajipir Army Goodwill School, Trehgam and Army Goodwill School, Wayne, Indian Army along with PI Jam Foundation have devised a plan to educate them for gaining expertise in Coding, Switched Capacitor (SC) Logic & Continuous Time (CT) Concept. Two teams of the foundation had conducted a week long training program at HAGS Trehgam & AGS Wayne respectively wherein the students & teachers of both the schools were made to undergo several stages of workshop to acquire this skill.
The Foundation works under initiative of Atal Tinkering Labs envisioning million children in India as Neoteric Innovators. For the purpose, Atal Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India. The objective of this scheme is to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds and to inculcate skills such as design mindset, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing etc.
Multiple sessions were conducted under the workshop for training purposes which were scheduled over different stages.
On 17 – 18 July 2023, two days *Teacher – Student Innovation Boot Camp* was organized to understand the challenges faced by teachers. It aided students in thinking and writing their logics & plans. Introduction to the Design Thinking Framework was also given to make teachers & students acquaint with next steps of program.
A two days *Hackathon* was conducted on 19 – 20 Jul 2023 for execution of projects. Teachers and students learnt to create scratch projects and shared the required feedback via google forms. Also, in person engagements along with preparatory sessions were organized over a course of three days time with teachers and students in order to improvise their projects.
Finally, on 25 – 26 July 2023, a total of 15 *Teacher – Student Innovation Projects (Creative Computing)* were presented for display, in which both showcased the problems they identified in form of scratch animations, games & applications. The Teachers – Students duo were able to explain proper use of technology/scratch programming to solve problems along with logic abled solutions.
A total number of 20 students and 06 Teachers combined from Hajipir Army Goodwill School, Trehgam and Army Goodwill School, Wayne participated in the workshop.
This one week long workshop assisted as an experience into vast possibilities of technology to learn and create. Teachers – Students coming from different backgrounds sought trainings that advanced their skills, competency & problem solving ability. These computing labs showed a positive impact on overall growth and academic understanding of teachers and students. The scientific methods of teaching, experimentation, grade-specific curriculum, comprehensive teacher training and post training mentorship left a deep impression on minds of both. In general, workshop gave out a positive message to civilian population that HAGS Trehgam & AGS Wayne are advancing in academic studies through implementation of scientific methods.
These computing labs will enable students to explore, experiment, tinker and create. Students shall identify their day to day challenges & have capacity to find their innovative solutions. These students and teachers are in a position to explain their unique problems with the help of technology – scratch programming. The requisite material & hardware as distributed by PI Foundation shall ensure ideal learning outcomes among trainees. They will be empowered to learn 21 century skills of creativity, innovation, critical thinking, design thinking & ethical leadership.
