KELOWNA, B.C. — From our smart phones to our smart cars, computer coding is everywhere. But it’s something most of us over a certain age don’t know a thing about.
That’s a big problem according to the provincial government, which says at any given time there are 1,000 technology jobs in B.C. sitting unfilled.
If a Kelowna coding seminar is any indication, interest is high among Okanagan students. Registration for a ‘Code Create’ program at UBC Okanagan was chock full – with a waitlist – two weeks after it opened.
“We are getting kids inspired to code,” said guest speaker Don Burks with Lighthouse Labs, a web development training company. “Digital literacy is important in today’s world. Everything is touched by technology.”
Youth from eight to 18 attended the day-long event.
“I like how you have to figure stuff out,” says program participant Kalista Klaver.
Klaver, who is just nine years old, started learning code six months ago.
“It’s really fun,” she says.
The technology seminar comes on the heels of a provincial government promise to implement coding into the school curriculum from kindergarten to grade nine.
READ MORE: New curriculum offers B.C. students coding basics
According to the province the number of technology related careers has climbed more than 30 per cent between 2002 and 2013.
- B.C. professor quits federal panel in protest of new disability benefit
- ‘Bad welcome to Canada’: White Rock stabbing victim’s wife angered by apparent random attack
- B.C. wildfire season off to early start with more than 100 already burning
- Trio of Metro Vancouver councillors call for end of B.C.’s decriminalization pilot
Comments