Pupils from groups 4, 5 and 6 at IKC De Piramide primary school in Zoetermeer visited The Hague University of Applied Sciences' GameLab and InspiratieLab at the Dutch Innovation Factory. The children first received a short introduction from Jeroen Derwort, who spoke about his experiences with OSM. Then, led by Wouter Pijnacker Hordijk , they took part in the Duckietown workshop and tried programming a small car.
The children and their supervisors were welcomed in the atrium before walking to GameLab. Here they heard the story of OSM. Their theme that week was 'entrepreneurship', and Jeroen Derwort explained how much you can achieve through programming.
Wouter Pijnacker Hordijk then introduced them to the world of DuckieTown. GameLab students had already taken this workshop earlier in the year, and many had not managed to make the cars drive around the track. How would the children from IKC De Piramide fare?
They made very good progress, demonstrating considerable programming knowledge learnt through tools including Scratch. Getting the cars driving was just one step too far on this occasion. This was partly because the laptops still needed to be connected. We will do that next time.
On the way to InspiratieLab, they passed the simulator, VR setups and arcade machines. The children were very enthusiastic and asked plenty of questions. It was clear that they would love to return.
This tour of the labs was offered to provide the children with extra inspiration and a deeper understanding. The children at IKC De Piramide are gifted and therefore need additional challenges. GameLab and InspiratieLab were delighted to make this possible and give them an early glimpse of what they could do when they eventually choose a career.