Over the last decade, the video game industry was primarily male dominated. However, in the last few years, that trend has started to change. Since 2009, the number of females in the industry has doubled from 11% to 21%, according to a survey by the International Game Developers Association.
At Classroom Antics, we have seen firsthand that growth as well with more and more girls enrolling in camps like Video Game Design and Computer Programming. In order to increase girls interest in technology, we keep our curriculum gender neutral while allowing students the creative freedom to add elements to the game design and computer programs that they find interesting. We feel putting boys and girls in an environment where they are learning and creating together gives them the necessary skills needed for working together with peers that have similar interests that will benefit them in the future. We are excited to see the growth of girls in tech and are glad to be doing our part to shape their interests and knowledge in that area.
Anvitha Vijay is a prime example of the positive growth taking place in the technology industry. Recently, the 9-year-old made headlines when it was announced that she was the youngest developer at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Vijay, who is from Melbourne and was chosen for an Apple Scholarship started coding when she was only 7. She learned how to code from online tutorials and a little help from YouTube. Her inspiration to create educational apps for kids comes from having a younger sister.
Two of the apps she created are called Smartkins Animals and Smartkins Rainbow Colors. Smartkins Animals is designed to help kids recognize animal names and their sounds; while on the other hand, Smartkins Rainbow Colors helps kids learn colors. She recently spoke to Fortune saying, “Coding was so challenging, but I’m so glad I stuck with it.”
We look forward to seeing what other positive contributions Anvitha and the many girls that have attended a Classroom Antics Tech Camp are going to make to our world.
Watch for our next blog – about the top colleges attend to study video game design!
