Students click at Lego camp

STUDENTS from a number of Northside schools took part in a unique robotics summer camp at DCU last month.

The five-day Entrepreneurship and Robotics camp saw 24 students from schools including Cabra Community School, Beneavin De La Salle College, St Mary’s Holy Faith  and Trinity Comprehensive put creative ideas into action at the Lego Education Innovation Studio (LEIS) in DCU.

The camp focussed on three themes – Developing Creative Confidence, Understanding Entrepreneurial Thinking and Empowering Leadership Skills.

The 24 students took part in entrepreneurship classes in the morning and each afternoon built prototypes of their business ideas with robotics Lego.

Classes were delivered in the form of traditional lectures using teaching materials and they also included discussion groups and opportunities for students to network and share their ideas.

Students took part in entrepreneurship classes in the morning and each afternoon built prototypes of their business ideas with robotics Lego. 

On the final day of the camp, students presented a portfolio of their work as well as a business plan and a robotics prototype to a judging panel.

Professor Deirdre Butler of the LEIS said the summer camp demonstrated how an innovative and exciting learning environment can be created for young people by the synergies created when different members of DCU’s wider family (Institute of Education, Ryan Academy & Access Programme) come together.

“The young people we worked with impressed us immensely with how they developed and demonstrated critical thinking, creativity and communication skills, as they harnessed robotic materials and design thinking to develop solutions to a series of real-world problems,” he added.

Chief Operations Officer at DCU Ryan Academy, Niamh Collins, said the week proved that educating Ireland’s teenagers on the basics of entrepreneurship and innovation can open up a whole new level of skills and ambition for young people. 

“The summer camp has given them a new way of thinking to enhance their creative side,” she continued.

“The camp has been a fun environment for them to work in as individuals and in teams, learn new skills and most importantly it has increased their confidence.”