Summer and After-School Technology Enrichment and Acceleration Programs in Coding, Robotics and Engineering for Grades 5 – 10. Located in Coralville, IA.
We build confidence through project-based learning and progressively step students up through our year-round, deep technical programs all while honing these 5 core skills vital for success in the coming future: Problem Identification, Learning to Learn, Critical Thinking, Solutions Design and Project Management.
Software development continues to be the #1 job now and will be an immensely valuable skill for the future, along with Robotics. See our curriculum and why we are a great choice for your child’s enrichment, technology acceleration and digital portfolio.
Summer 2018 courses for Grades 5-10: [Register here]
Note: Each class is limited to 8 students. 30 hours total per course. Monday-Thursday 1pm-5pm.
| 5th – 8th Grade | 7th – 10th Grade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| PROGRAMMING I | ROBOTICS I | PROGRAMMING I | ROBOTICS I |
| June 4 – June 14 | June 18 – June 28 | July 9 – July 19 | July 23 – Aug 2 |
| $750 | $800 | $750 | $800 |
Fall 2018 After-School courses for Grades 5-10 start August 27th:
- Programming I, Robotics I – Each class is once a week, 5-7pm
- Makers Lab I – Sundays 2-4pm
- See Calendar for schedule. Registration opening soon. Sign up here to be notified.
Programming I
Take a bold step into the world of programming. Build critical coding knowledge that will serve as the technical base for further programming languages. Begin to create a Digital Portfolio. Learn, practice and master:
- Information flow, Internet and website architecture and elements – how web pages, servers and browsers function.
- HTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript within the industry standard Eclipse Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
- Design, plan, implement and present multiple web page projects that increase in complexity.
- Code concepts such as inputs, variables, data processing and functions as well as debugging and testing code
As part of the course, students will continually evaluate variations from design and project plans. Analyzing issues, and delving into lessons learned will follow each project to instill the 5 core skills. Follow this link for additional course details.
Students will be provided space on the StairWay5 website to begin their Digital Portfolios by showcasing their projects.
NEXT LEVEL: Students in Programming II will launch into building more complex applications utilizing Java and C that serve as the backbone of many advanced applications in today’s world.
Robotics I
Delve into the world of robots and learn to make them function to accomplish desired results. This class covers multiple plan, design and build projects to gain a basic understanding of robotics through the following:
- Mechanisms that push, pull and lift – using wheels/axles, inclined planes, wedges, lever, pulleys and screws.
- Machines with motorized movement – motors, gears, drive-trains. Understand speed and torque.
- Machines that use plows, scoops and friction grabbers for object manipulation mechanisms.
- Articulation such as rotating joints and linkages.
- Programming the robot’s computer for processing inputs and performing tasks through simple visual programming
- Sensors to detect inputs such as light, color, objects and motion
Variations from design intent, issues encountered, and lessons learned will follow each project to instill the 5 core skills. Follow this link for additional course details.
Students who are have completed Programming I can add their Robotics projects to their Digital Portfolios.
NEXT LEVEL: Students in Robotics II will build more complex robots and graduate from graphical interface programming to ROBOTC, a powerful C-based programming language which is a cross-platform solution that is used in advanced courses and professional applications. Programming I is a prerequisite.
Makers Lab I
Makers Lab provides additional space and time for students who are currently enrolled in or have completed Programming I and/or Robotics I to continue to expand on their projects or design and build new projects. Students will be provided access to computers, robotics kits and other materials like Arduino processor boards. They can choose to work individually or set up teams and collaborate with others for their projects. Students are encouraged to work independently and practice their technical skills and 5 core skills. Instructors will provide guidance and mentoring as needed to ensure students meet the objectives they have set for themselves. Projects completed during the Lab can also be be added to each student’s Digital Portfolio.
- Courses will be offered starting in Fall 2018. Sundays 2-4pm
- $50 Registration Fee includes 3 Lab sessions.
- Additional sessions are $15 each.
- Reservations are required and each Lab session will be limited to 15 students