The aim of the IT Summer School is to introduce girls to technology, to develop their creativity and, most importantly, to show them how fun and varied studying IT can be. The week-long classes took place mostly in the premises and laboratories of the CTU FIT. The girls not only learned how to program web pages or computer games, but also gained valuable self-confidence that will be useful for university admissions. In the FIT CTU laboratories they tried, for example, working with humanoid robots or learned how different types of industrial cameras work and what can be taught using artificial intelligence. During the summer school, the students also improved their presentation skills, attended career workshops or visited several technology companies where they could one day get a job.
It is the increase in self-confidence and the feeling that women also belong in IT and can find a hobby or future career in it that graduates most often take away from the IT Summer School. This is the result of a survey conducted by Czechitas and this trend is confirmed by this year's graduate Zlata Šmídová. "I already knew that I would enjoy IT from my classes at school, but it was only at the IT Summer School that I discovered what information technology is all about. In the team we divided the functions - someone took care of graphics, someone had better presentation skills and I took care of the technical side of our website. I focused on JavaScript," explains the recent graduate.
The projects created during Friday's hackathon showed the themes that young women perceive in their environment. One of the seven girls' teams was dedicated to a project on how to prevent animal testing, where girls created a website with information on how testing works, how not to support it or how to know that products are not really tested on animals. Another project was dedicated to sharing know-how among students, and a whole website and database Students for Students (S4S) was created where students can offer tutoring sessions to each other, apply for internships or initiate a textbook exchange. The presentation of the final projects also offered the topic of sexual harassment and violence with a web-based simulator of risky situations, where it is possible to practice how to react to verbal or even more serious attacks. Projects that offered an educational game about first aid, the possibility to adopt a pet according to a personality quiz or an app that automatically generates a suitable background playlist for your favourite reading, or a project dealing with Norse mythology and the unbelievable representation of gods in film productions were equally interesting.
"We are glad that we could once again host the IT Summer School at Faculty of Information Technology of the Czech Technical University in Prague. Our long-term cooperation with Czechitas helps to change stereotypes and increase girls' interest in studying IT. According to recently published data from the Czech Statistical Office (CSO), the number of male (and female) students in information technology is growing, but the proportion of women is only less than 19%. For this reason, we are also pleased that FIT CTU together with Czechitas supports female students at the beginning of their journey and in their future decision to study or pursue a career in IT," says Daniela Illnerová, Vice Dean for External Relations at FIT CTU, about the Summer School.
More information about the project:
https://fit.cvut.cz/cs/zivot-na-fit/aktualne/udalosti/19292-letni-skola-it-2023
https://www.czechitas.cz/blog/budeme-ajtacky-rozhodly-se-na-letni-skole-it