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Exciting IT Workshops for Girls

The smile project offers insights into cutting-edge IT research for schoolgirls from the fifth grade up to university entry. The BMBF-funded workshops at the University of Bremen aim to present the attractiveness and diversity of computer science professions to schoolgirls.

Digitization and artificial intelligence play a central role in everyday life and work. Both topics will influence and change our society, the working world and our life in a comprehensive and lasting way in the coming decades. But to help shape and participate in the future, you need to understand these topics: occupations in the IT sector are increasingly popular and offer future prospects with above-average earning potential. However, as in other STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering, mathematics – women are underrepresented in this area.

Free Workshops

The reason for this is that young girls and women often cannot imagine computer science as an occupational field. That’s what smile wants to change. In workshops such as “Meine intelligente Wohnung” (My intelligent home), “Meine Roboterfreundin räumt auf” (My robot friend cleans up), and “OK Alexa,” schoolgirls should gain insights into the field of computer science and develop a good understanding of the topic. Previous knowledge is not required. Participation in the workshops is free of charge.

Exhibition in the Botanika

Ten pupils from the seventh grade found out how a houseplant can become “smart” as part of a smile workshop. The plants equipped with sensors and microcontrollers can be seen in the Botanika foyer until February 8.
smile is a North German BMBF joint project with research laboratories at the University of Bremen and other laboratories in Hamburg and Oldenburg. The project is funded for the period from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020. The aim of the project is to ensure that the program continues.

Workshops (Selection):

Meine intelligente Wohnung
•    Seventh and eighth grade
•    Thursday, January 31, and Friday, February 1, 2019

The workshop “Meine intelligente Wohnung” for seventh and eighth graders examines how a home can intelligently support its users, why this is important in an ageing society, and how these technologies work. The pupils themselves learn how to program and control such systems. Previous knowledge is not required.

Meine Roboterfreundin räumt auf
•    Seventh, eighth, and ninth grade
•    From February 2019, every Friday afternoon from 3 p.m.

Does this mean we never have to clean up again? Not quite, but the participants of this workshop can think about how a robot could do the cleaning for them. They learn their first programming steps and “control” their own robot.
This workshop also takes place during the Easter holidays for older schoolgirls.
•    Tenth grade and above (10,11,12,13, Q1,Q2)
•    Monday, April 15, to Thursday, April 18, 2019

OK Alexa
•    Ninth, tenth and eleventh grade
•    Tuesday, April 9, to Friday, April 12 2019

Voice-controlled systems like Siri and Alexa surround us in our everyday life in many places nowadays. But how does something like this actually work? The participants learn how in the OK Alexa workshop and design and program their own system.

Further information

www.smile-smart-it.de
www.uni-bremen.de

Contact
Sabine Veit
Managing Director AG Artificial Intelligence Faculty 3
University of Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-64005
E-mail: veitprotect me ?!cs.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de

In den IT-Workshops des smile Projekts sollen Mädchen selbst aktiv werden.
In the smile project’s IT workshops, girls should take an active role and try out and discover new things. (smile/University of Bremen)