SBA

Code Club STEAMs Ahead

The Isle of Man Code Club http://codeclub.im has been running since March 2014. Hundreds of people on the island, including many youngsters and business and technology professionals, have benefitted from this voluntary initiative, developing and expanding their computing skills through formal programming tuition, informal workshops, meeting other people interested or skilled in digital technologies and getting the opportunity to experience, and learn from experts and enthusiasts about, technologies that they would not otherwise have access to, such as Virtual Reality, Robotics, 3D Printing etc. Code Club has also put teams of Isle of Man youngsters into the UK Cyber Security Challenge, and they have performed well. 

When the Isle of Man Code Club first started it was fortunate to gain support from MICTA, including assistance with equipment and the use of the meeting rooms in The Forum on Mount Havelock in Douglas for it’s Saturday afternoon classes, workshops etc. When The Forum closed its doors both MICTA and Code Club needed new premises, and relocated to Barrule House on the Ronaldsway industrial estate. At the time I was fearful that this move “out of town” might reduce attendance, but I popped in to the Ronaldsway building for a visit one Saturday and found they were packed out. All good things come to an end however and apparently the lease on Barrule House needed renewing but neither MICTA nor Code Club were in a position to commit to another term. 

So they have moved again…. back to Douglas, and Code Club opened the doors to their new location, 3 Prospect Hill / 4 Atholl Street, on Saturday April 1st this year. I popped in recently to have a look, and to learn how a free to attend voluntary initiative with no substantive income has managed to find itself premium space in the heart of the Douglas business district.

Very simply, the beneficial owner of the company which owns the building is sympathetic - his grandson is a regular attendee at Code Club, and since a previous tenant vacated there has been a floor of the building lying idle, so he has made it available at a nominal rent to the organisers of Code Club for use free of charge by Code Club and similar voluntary groups offering community learning opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics related disciplines - hence the STEAM Lab. Already the facilities are being used by the Linux User Group and the Amateur Radio Society, and there are suggestions of a WordPress User Group, meetings of a Mathematics group and others.  

This is obviously fantastic news for the development of technology skills on the Island. The more groups that can make use of the STEAM Lab facilities the better. The Saturday afternoon Code Club meetings have diversified into encompassing robotics and practical electronics - learning soldering skills and building microprocessor-based electronic circuits using Arduino microcontroller boards etc. Some Wednesday evening sessions are being planned to support people in repairing and maintaining their electronic equipment in alignment with the ethos of The Restart Project in the UK (https://therestartproject.org) which helps to reduce electronic equipment waste by enabling people to fix what they own instead of replacing it when it fails.

Clearly the demand stimulated by these community projects has stretched well beyond teaching simple computer programming to youngsters, and this is reflected in other changes in the focus of Code Club in the Island, and internationally. Code Club in the UK is focused on teaching basic programming skills to children aged 9 to 11 and has grown to become the support network for this niche to thousands of groups worldwide. Meanwhile in Ireland another voluntary organisation, CoderDojo (https://coderdojo.com), was emerging with similar aims but for a much wider age range of 7 to 17, with a broader range of computing and technology related activities. CoderDojo has become a coordinating hub for over a thousand similar volunteer-led community programming and technology groups in around seventy countries across the world. The Isle of Man Code Club has therefore evolved into the Douglas (IoM) STEAM Lab and has affiliated with CoderDojo, benefitting from the latter’s knowledge and experience of providing broader coverage in both attendee age and expertise and in the range and nature of technology topics that attendees can explore. You can find the activities and calendar of the STEAM Lab, join and book yourself into STEAM Lab classes and activities by using the CoderDojo website https://zen.coderdojo.com/ or going directly to https://zen.coderdojo.com/dojo/im/douglas/douglas-iom-steam-lab. Currently there are sessions / classes scheduled to learn programming in the Python and Java languages, and to learn how to assemble simple electronic circuits and develop the soldering skills needed in electronics assembly and repair (for all ages from 10 - 99). There is also a small self-help group of Microsoft dot Net developers meeting up at the Steam Lab alongside the regular Saturday classes in Python and Java.

As this community technology education movement evolves, now in it’s third home and having grown from learning the basics of computer programming into a wide range of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths related topics, it’s value to the Isle of Man has become self-evident. How many schoolchildren do you know who clamour for extra classes at the weekend? The STEAM Lab is packing them in because they want to be there, but it needs more support from the community, in particular:

More volunteers - especially people who know how to do relevant “stuff” and are willing to help others  by sharing that knowledge. The STEAM Lab can promote classes and workshops through the CoderDojo system and make the space and some facilities available free of charge.

Sponsorship / money for more equipment - computers, peripherals, soldering irons, electronics kits and so on. Many of the laptops which the Code Club / STEAM Lab has are pretty basic - fine for learning simple things but not sufficient for complex projects. As an example, one of the youngsters attending regularly has been developing a Machine Learning project - in this case using artificial intelligence technologies to recognise objects / shapes in images. It’s both intellectually challenging, and computationally difficult - each experiment takes the computer a long time to process. STEAM Lab would very much like to have a more suitable computer with a high-powered graphics processor, but it will probably require sponsorship from one of the larger companies on the island. Regular corporate sponsorship or the gift of specific equipment will help more people to develop their tech skills.

Tenants for some of the spare space in 3 Prospect Hill / 4 Athol Street. MICTA have already established their office on the premises, as have a couple of micro-businesses in the tech sector. The more of these who can rent an individual small office in the building the better, because a modest regular rent from a few micro-businesses will contribute to the sustainability of the STEAM Lab.

What it comes down to is that the Isle of Man Code Club and the activities that have emerged out of it need community support.  It has outgrown the resources of a few volunteers and the benevolence of MICTA. The intention is to incorporate, register as a charity, and start the formal process of approaching charitable donors for the resources to sustain and grow further. 

In the meantime, if you have something relevant to teach, can spend time coaching and mentoring others in the development of their STEAM skills, can provide funding or equipment, or would just like to rent a single office on Athol St, please get in touch with the organisers via email on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.