Pinelands Library is among 26 of the City’s libraries that have signed up for a Library Coding Network Tournament, in partnership with Nelson Mandela University and the Leva Foundation. It will see the top teams from each facility go head-to-head at City Hall on Mandela Day (Tuesday 18 July).
The Leva Foundation, a non-profit, runs several projects (including the Tangible Africa Project) in partnership with Nelson Mandela University (NMU) aimed at providing the right tools for individuals to “enter the economy.”
The Tangible coding movement, also referred to as “unplugged coding”, has for the past two years been gaining momentum across the continent.
According to the Leva Foundation’s website, the concept for Tangible originated from a TANKS app developed by 21-year-old student Byron Batteson for his honours project in 2017.
Prof Jean Greyling, head of the Computing Sciences Department at NMU, identified outstanding potential and expanded the concept into a flesh-and-bones operation.
From the original TANKS, two more apps, RANGERS, and BOATS, have been developed.
By downloading a very small app (7MB), participants can play TANKS or RANGERS offline, using the app and the tokens from the game packs.
These “unplugged coding” apps allow libraries to bring coding to communities who do not have access to expensive resources.
Greyling said the Tangible Africa Project aims to introduce coding principles to learners in an interactive and engaging way, preparing them for a future in the tech industry and equipping them with critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration skills.
“Since we started in 2017, libraries have been a great implementation partner, assisting us to impact communities. We are very grateful to the Cape Town libraries who have taken ownership of the Tangible Africa coding movement,” he says.
This year, Tangible Africa will host its flagship tournament at the Nelson Mandela Legacy Exhibition. Participants will make use of coding applications TANKS and RANGERS.
Patricia van der Ross, Mayco member for community services and health, said she hoped this initiative would take hold and become a regular feature in all of the City’s libraries over time.
“This form of coding improves participants’ problem solving, comprehension and collaboration skills. By the end of the game, when they’ve completed all 35 levels, participants will be able to move on to plugged coding in libraries, using applications such as SCRATCH, which is currently available on our SmartCape computers.”
To get coding started at Pinelands Library, the Sakhikamva Foundation is hosting a three-day Coding in Aviation programme from today (27 June) to Thursday 29 June.
With the classes running from 08:30 to noon over these three days, parents had to sign up their children for the programme, either by calling or walking into the library. By Wednesday last week, 21 children had been enrolled in the programme.
Fikile Mabuza, children’s librarian at Pinelands Library, said this is the first time coding has formed part of its winter holiday programme.
“We encourage children to come into the library, so we figured coding is something they may be interested in, that is why we are trying it out,” she said.
Fikile said the plan is to see what the turnout is and then to take it from there.
“We will see what we can do, how we can then work with these children going forward.”
Other libraries currently signed up for the tournament include Camps Bay, Observatory, Belhar, Bonteheuwel, Goodwood, Durbanville, Milnerton, Bellville, Parow, Leonsdale, Ocean View, Hanover Park, Manenberg, Central, Pelican Park, Kuyasa, Rocklands, Bishop Lavis, Mowbray, Mfuleni, Mitchell’s Plain, Grassy Park, Khayelitsha, Adriaanse and Valhalla Park Library.
- To find out more about coding in your region or to participate in the #Coding4Mandela event, contact info@levafoundation.org
