Kids hacker camps in Kenya: hardware hacking effectiveness in skills transfer

Abstract

Hardware hacking involves modifying hardware (not limited to computers) to expand its capabilities. The iHub Kids Hacker Camps (KHC) have been run successively for over 17 months. KHC was initiated and developed in the spirit of project based learning to encourage kids and young teens to work collaboratively in teams to complete projects using heuristic hardware tools. 5 camps have been held since the program began with 102 kids and 48 trainers having attended. With an average of ~23% of our registered participants having attended more than one camp, we fine-tuned the development the KHC Curriculum to the needs of this specific category of participants. Key findings from running the camps highlight the importance of keeping the curriculum simplified for both educators and students, the benefits of incorporating peer learning techniques and pedagogies as well as the effectiveness of using abstracted and simplified analogies in describing hardware and system concepts.