Every year, our NIU STEAM team has exciting ideas for new camp programs and that means tough decisions. Which become camps, and which current camps might have to go to make way. We have so much fun coming up with new activities and investigations that we must limit ourselves to just a few each year.

So, what made the cut this year? Two tech intensive middle school camps.

Drones!

About a year ago. We acquired our first drone and soon realized we needed a class set of them. With the help of our resident coding expert, a few drone fans, and an engineering faculty member researching Swarm robotics we have a great drone adventure planned, in the perfect location, Lorado Taft Field Campus. Campers will control their drones with coding, design obstacle courses for them and build attachments to solve challenges.

AR/VR

A few months after getting our first drone, we received funding from the DeKalb County Community Foundation for a few AR/VR sets for teaching teachers. We’ve added several more sets and are ready to help campers delve into augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in this exciting camp. We’ll try out the latest technologies as we engage in hands-on projects. Create a physical object and transform it into a digital one through AR technology; design a virtual museum of your own; conduct science experiments in a virtual lab. You’ll find it virtually impossible not to have fun.

WRITTEN BY:
Pati
Camp Director Emeritus
STEM Outreach Director