At the beginning of the summer holidays, 140 children eager to advance their computer skills spent a week at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science at the University of Ljubljana, where the 18th FRI Summer School took place from June 30 to July 4. Participants were introduced to the basics of programming, robotics, the Internet of Things, 3D modeling, quantum computing, virtual reality, and much more.

The aim of the Summer School is to inspire young people to take an interest in computer science and to provide them, in a fun and engaging way, with content that is unfortunately not available in the regular school curriculum. In nine workshops of varying difficulty levels, educators, researchers, and students helped the children develop their talents by working on practical projects.

Primary school students were introduced to the world of technology in a playful manner. With the help of LEGO Spike robots, they explored the imaginary planet Pagonia, building and programming autonomous robots in the Scratch environment. They also took part in the story of the girl Heidi, where they learned about sustainable values and the basics of programming through creating their own games and using KUBO robots. Some of them tried their hand at digital construction – using the educational version of Minecraft, they built their own virtual cities with programming commands. Older primary school students also created a weather station, controlled a traffic light via the internet, and learned the basics of drone control.

Secondary school students delved into more advanced topics. Using the Python programming language, they developed simple programs and games; in Unity, they created VR games for virtual reality headsets, and they also learned the basics of 3D modeling and animation using Blender. They explored the concept of quantum computing through simple examples and visualizations, and had the opportunity to see the first two-qubit quantum computer in Slovenia.

In addition to technological knowledge, the Summer School also offered opportunities for socializing and building new friendships among young people united by curiosity and creativity.

The FRI Summer School, organized and run by the staff and students of the Faculty of Computer and Information Science at the University of Ljubljana, in cooperation with colleagues from the Faculty of Education, was supported by companies that recognize the importance of early and high-quality computer science education: Razum, Epilog, Agiledrop, Comtrade Gaming, Kolektor, DEWEsoft, Xlab, Tasking Labs, Nil, and Monitor Magazine.

Highlights from the workshops can be found in the photo gallery published at this LINK.

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