Forget Sewing Bee, forget all that Cake Bake-Off nonsense. Real mums program computers or more specifically Raspberry Pi computers supplied by RS Components. The high service distributor is backing Savvify’s #techmums project, a series of fun interactive workshops designed for mums of school-age children to learn skills including app design, social media savviness, how to be safe online, web design, and computer programming.
The workshops get mums hands on with technology, building their confidence and showing them what great opportunities are out there in the digital world. The workshops also help mums to build a more realistic, positive understanding of technology and what their children are learning at school.
The #techmums project pilot was held as a six-week course at the Bishop Challoner Collegiate School, Greater London, culminating with a Raspberry Pi programming session run by Pete Wood, DesignSpark Community Manager at RS Components. Fifteen mums with children at the school were introduced to tasks such as building simple circuits that interface to the Raspberry Pi. They used the Python programming language to interact with the circuits to light LEDs and take temperature and light readings.
Commenting on the #techmums project, Chyna Ajayi-Khiran, one of the participants, said, “The workshop has definitely taken away some of my fear of computers and I’m not afraid to have a go now. I really was amazed by the Raspberry Pi computer and enjoyed the thermometer project. It is good because it is something I can really relate to.”
The #techmums project is the latest initiative to be introduced by Savvify, formerly The Foundation, which was set up by award-winning computer scientist Dr Sue Black to engage, excite, educate and empower children and adults through technology. Last year saw the launch of #gototech, a series of workshops involving 90 primary school children aged 7-9 years. The successful pilot event, supported by RS, showed the children how to write software to create a game, use a Raspberry Pi to control devices, and design an app to help in the classroom.
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