JCG’s senior team gained first place in the Jersey BIMA Digital Day Competition. They were particularly proud because their team was a mixed Year 10, 11 and 12 group whilst other teams were entirely sixth form. The College’s junior teams (Year 9 & 10) took second and third position. JCG’s Head of Computer Science, Emma Powell commented: “Throughout the day and from the experience overall, the students gained and developed skills in teamwork, problem solving and delivering presentations to large audiences; valuable life skills for all year groups involved.” After listening to experts talking about the digital sector, the students completed a challenge, selecting from these assignments:
- How can we promote digital careers to young people?
- How can we get more young people interested in tennis and sport utilising the myWimbledon app?
- How can technology help to save our oceans?
The senior team came up with an idea to help reduce plastic in the ocean by having a static electrically charged buoy that could attract the plastic. It also allowed you to track the buoy to see how it was doing. The second place team devised an idea to help attract young people into tennis by having a wristband that could be worn while they play that would give feedback on their strokes and offer ways to improve. The students started the challenges by brainstorming ideas of how they could complete their chosen task, before agreeing on the way forward as a group. They collaborated on the design and assigned tasks. Some worked on the presentation, some worked on the prototype for their idea; this included one group building an app, another designed and created a website, and one group even created and coded a prototype racket with the use of a raspberry pi. Others in the group created promotional material to help advertise their idea. Finally, they came together to prepare and rehearse their pitch for the 5 minute presentation to judges. Mr Howarth commented: ‘This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to create real-world solutions for the digital sector. This sector is growing at a rapid rate and so it is important our young people are ready to add value and expertise.’