Kids learn code at video game summer camp

Using popular computer games as a springboard for learning, kids at the iD Tech Camps at the University of Louisville’s Shelby campus are getting an understanding for just how much work goes in to making a game.

Fourteen-year-old Chris Osbourne had never written a line of code when he arrived at the camp on Monday, but by Thursday he had created his own text-based fighting game. During the one-week course Osbourne has added new characters, on screen messages and a series of possible fight outcomes coded in Java script.

“I love computers in general, mostly playing video games like an average teenage kid, so it’s a lot of fun for me to learn what’s going on behind the scenes,” he said.

iD Tech is a national company that hosts camps, academies and online learning programs for kids as young as 7 to get a grasp of computer science and programming. Many of the courses geared for younger kids use Minecraft and other popular games to teach them coding or game design.

More advanced courses for kids up to age 17 are also offered in web design, photography, 3-D animation and more. This is the first year iD Tech set up a summer camp series in Louisville. Camps are for boys and girls and run for one week with a family showcase on Fridays where the kids can show off their creations to their families.

Ayda Marshall, 11, is part of a class that teaches kids Java Script by having them code unique objects to upload into the Minecraft game world. Her creations included an exploding cake and a purple venom-spitting lemur.

Marshall said she’s learned a lot about game design, but she’s learned even more about what the job of being a coder entails.

“You have to get almost everything right to get it to run,” she said. “For the people who are professional coders you have to have a certain patience to be doing code and you have to deal with your frustrations to be able to do it. It is really hard so you have to admire the people who do it for a living.”

Software developers, computer programmers and designers and similar in-demand jobs will be more in-demand by the time youths such as Osbourne and Marshall enter the workforce. Between 2012 and 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics estimates software development jobs will grow by 22 percent.

The counselors at iD Tech Camp don’t specifically stress the economics to learning coding, but for many kids at the camps there was no need to. They understood that technology plays a big role in everything they do and technologies place in the world is only getting bigger.

“A lot of companies are getting into technology and automating, and coding plays such a big role in that,” Osbourne said. “I grew up with technology. It’s advancing and I’m advancing with it because I’m younger and my mind is still fresh.”

Michael Stewart is the camp director of the programs offered at the Shelby campus. Stewart is responsible for dividing the class up based on experience and giving each student a personalized lesson plan for the week.

He learned programming from the University of Texas at Dallas, but programming interfaces easy enough for children to learn coding are a relatively new invention. Stewart said these sorts of camp programs for kids would have been useful in his career in coding.

“They’ll always remember what they learned about coding here, because the syntax never changes,” he said. “Everything is becoming tech-savy now and at least they understand that more, even if they don’t want to make video games.”

One thing that separates iD Tech from other campuses, Stewart said, is that kids leave with a tangible portfolio item to show to future colleges and employers. Big-name colleges such as MIT have recently begun accepting optional work portfolios as part of the application process.

“You can be like, ‘Yeah I wrote my own program in Minecraft when I was in middle school,’ ” he said.

But despite the seriousness that underlies learning a new job skill, the kids at the iD Tech camp said they still find time in their weeklong course to be kids.

“I like being able to make my own game and have people play and say it’s fun,” he said. “Just the feeling of accomplishment is amazing.”

Roberto Roldan can be reached at (502) 582-4649.

More info

Where: 2301 S. 3rd St, Louisville

Price: $799-$1,129

To sign up:www.iDTech.com gives information on other courses