As part of its commitment to community and education, the EcoExploratorio: Museo de Ciencias de Puerto Rico is holding the TechGirls educational camp in June, an initiative that is carried out in partnership with the Liberty Foundation. The program impacts 50 students from sixth to eighth grades in public and private schools around the island. The girls participate in educational workshops focused on the topics of computer coding, Internet and security, mathematics and professional opportunities within the industry of technological innovation.
"It is important that girls are exposed early on to all the opportunities that exist for them in the different branches of science and the Eco-Exploratorio educational camp has developed a very complete program for this," said Liberty Foundation’s Executive Director, Yadira Valdivia, noting that an electrical engineer from Liberty, an expert in telecommunications, will be one of the resources that will share her experiences with the girls. "Liberty's Navega con Seguridad program has also been integrated to help them learn about the risks and dangers of any activity and or interaction that takes place online," she added.
Students participating in the TechGirls project receive four 1.5-hour online workshops, for a total of six contact hours, a STEM Box with materials for conducting scientific experiments applying STEM disciplines, and educational support from experts in the areas of innovation and technological security. Also at the end of the workshop cycle, students will receive a certificate of participation from the program.
Jenny Guevara, Executive Director of EcoExploratorio, Inc., said that, "as an entity of informal STEM education, we wish to provide the opportunity for development to girls in the field of technological innovation in order to further elevate the academic intell
ectual competitiveness of female students in the field of science in Puerto Rico. We are extremely proud of this educational partnership with Liberty Foundationso that we can provide educational experiences to the participants through the TechGirls camp with the aim that they can achieve their dreams and goals of becoming future scientists and contribute to the development and economic growth of the Island, " said Guevara.
The Webinars are offered through the EcoExploratorio’s Virtual Science platform, and are conducted by museum educators and experienced professionals in the field of technology from Liberty. The topics of the workshops are aimed at providing the basic concepts of the use of programming and coding in the field of technology, the importance and protection of security on the Internet, the use of mathematics in the development of technological innovation, and the existing professional opportunities in the area of technology.