Computer Clubhouse targets digital deprivation in Canberra
Computers and smart tablets are ubiquitous in many Canberra schools, but there are pockets of the city where digital deprivation is a problem.
A new program in Tuggeranong in Canberra's south is giving disadvantaged kids access to the most cutting edge technology, in the hope that it will spark their creativity and hunger for learning.
Anyone under 18 years old who lives in the area can take part in the YWCA-run program, which is run out of a classroom at Richardson Primary School.
Student Jack Engel, 12, said he was impressed by the range of software and hardware on offer at Computer Clubhouse.
"Especially when you first rock up and you don't know what to do and you've got to get someone to help you," he said.
Families, mentors and ACT police are on board with the plan to provide children who live in Canberra's outer reaches with things they would otherwise go without.
YWCA Canberra executive director Frances Crimmins said there was a need for a place for young people to come outside of school.
"It provides the latest technology pathways into scientific technology, engineering and mathematics," she said.
"It's not just about the doing and how to write programs its the soft skills how to work in a team, learning how to create a project and how to finish that project."
Ms Crimmins said digital poverty was alive and well in Canberra.
"In this day and age if you don't have access to technology you really can be left behind," she said.
"The jobs available for the next generation will involve technology."
The model was imported from Boston, United States, where the first program was set up 20 years ago.
"Even back then there was a growing divide between people who had access to tech and people who didn't," Computer Clubhouse Network director Gail Breslow said.
"The idea is to empower people to use technology for creative expression."
Ms Breslow said the program aimed to give children the necessary skills to follow their passion.
"They're learning how to take the idea of a project and bring it to fruition," she said.
"Project-management skills, collaboration skills, communication skills, teamwork, they're learning about problem solving and trouble shooting."
The centre was set up with private funding and donations of top-shelf gear.
On offer are equipment for graphic design, web development, robotics and video production.
"I've been learning how to model and how to 3D print," student Yayei Otuk, 10, said.
But mentor Dale Rogers said computer skills were just the start of what children can learn at the centre.
"They can learn how to be focused and action-based, set themselves a target," he said.
"Everybody loves a successful project and the kids that come here are no different.
"The real power of this technology is that it's so hands-on and it shows the beginning to the end of building something in a short period of time."
It is hoped the program could help create the programmers and engineers of the future.
