The event was attended by 40 girls from Seminario, Queen's School, Saint Brendan's, Sagrado Corazón, and the French Lycée, who came to learn a little more about technology and its possibilities.
The girls were divided into two groups of 20 each. One group participated in an MIT App Inventor workshop led by Dr. Inés Friss de Kereki, professor of Programming, where they developed apps for use on Android mobile devices. Meanwhile, the other group programmed Lego Mindstorms robots; this workshop was led by André Fonseca, professor of Analog Electronics and Automatic Control.
Through the workshops, the teenage girls learned that women can work in the development of new technologies and that it is not a field exclusively for men.
At the end of the day, the girls shared a snack and tried out the Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets, which allowed them to explore the age of the dinosaurs and ride a roller coaster.
Girls in ICT Day is a global initiative launched by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to raise public awareness of educational opportunities in this field.
Most girls do not choose to study or work in technology, a trend that can be attributed to social, cultural, and educational factors.
In Uruguay, only 16% of students enrolled in technology programs are women, according to the 2013 Statistical Yearbook of the Ministry of Education and Culture.
However, for at least the past 10 years, the ICT sector has been experiencing rapid growth, which is seen as an opportunity to provide more and better job opportunities.
https://youtu.be/d4zNmY6lBt0