On November 10, we hosted the ājournée Futur en tous genresā event for eight girls from the Cycle d'Orientation. This intercantonal project was set up by the equality offices of several cantons, including Fribourg. Its aim is to open up new perspectives for girls and boys by discovering a wide range of professional fields without preconceived ideas.
This is the second year that Liip Fribourg has organized workshops for this particularly instructive and enriching day!
Introduction to programming
To get the day off to a good start, the girls are introduced to programming using the site's online tools studio.code.org.
The principle: students can nest different blocks one after the other to create a program. When the program is executed, they can see characters (in this case from the Snow Queen) come to life in the window, tracing shapes and snowflakes on the ice.
Programming exercise on the Code Studio website
Each of the girls progresses at her own pace, guided by certain tips on the site, and the complexity evolves as the exercises progress. There's a certain motivation on their part, and many hands are raised to suggest corrections to the exercises. It's a playful approach that helps them understand the basics of programming (variables, functions, loops...) while having fun! In the final phase, they let their imaginations run wild as they create their own programs.
Coin turner
For this second workshop, the computers are put aside. Valentin invites the girls to turn over Legos pieces one after the other, timing the time taken. The second round consists in turning over the same number of pieces, but divided into two packs.
The girls soon realize that parallelizing tasks saves time, and this is what we try to do in agile projects.
Creating a web page
After a few pizzas, we start the HTML/CSS workshop. The girls arrive at their computers and see a page from the site cssdesk.com featuring a simple block with the words āHello world!ā. On the left panel, the girls can modify lines of code and see the rendering directly on the screen. Sylvain shows them examples of code to modify the display: magnify the text or change the background color according to a mouse event, add an image... The girls quickly get into the game and each personalize the page in their own way: photos of cupcakes or Justin Bieber, pastel purple or candy pink backgrounds... They ask us lots of questions: āSir, how can we put photos posted on Instagram? āMadame, I don't know why my background color isn't showing up...ā. In the end, they'll share their first HTML page with their friends!
Exercise interface on the CSS Desk website
Case study using Agile methodology
It's time to turn off the computers for the day and move on to the last workshop: planning the creation of an amusement park using agile methodology.
Valentin suggests using Legos for construction and quickly briefs them on the various elements that will make up the park.
Divided into two groups, the girls have to assess the complexity of each task and plan what they can produce in the time available. In the end, there will be two rounds or āsprintsā in which they can complete the project.
As soon as the timer starts, the girls rush to their boards and the brainstorming begins: they debate, note, move and replace the various post-its, each marked with a task to be accomplished.
The girls assess the complexity of the tasks involved
Time for the design phase! Both groups rush to their Legos and start building the theme park. They organize themselves and parallel tasks. āWe're halfway through!ā exclaims Valentin. And then the stress mounts, and we see them working with much faster movements to finish the constructions on time.
In the middle of creating the theme park!
End of regulation time. Valentin puts on his customer's hat and reviews what's been done. There's a field, some nice zoos and half-built toilets, but in the end, the customer is satisfied: the features promised at the start of the sprint are there.
On the second sprint, the girls seem less stressed. There are no exclamations this time at the half-time announcement. They manage to finish all the tasks initially included in the two sprints, and the customer remains satisfied.
The girls were able to estimate accurately and complete the tasks promised at the start of each sprint to meet the customer's expectations - this workshop was a success!
Snack and retrospective
The Legos workshop had a team-building effect: the girls were a lot less shy with each other and enjoyed a snack in a very friendly, relaxed atmosphere.
The day ends with a retrospective to take a step back and look at what's been achieved, both the positives and the areas for improvement. This is what we generally do at the end of each project at Liip.
The girls' assessment was very positive: they enjoyed learning new things while having fun, and appreciated the friendliness of the organizers. What's more, they found the meal and snack delicious.
For our part, we were impressed by the girls' curiosity, motivation and commitment throughout the day. We also benefited from last year's experience to improve and offer quality workshops.
Conclusion
Sylvain, Valentin and I never saw the day go by! It was a real pleasure to welcome these eight girls, and we thank them all for coming. They were able to understand what goes on behind a computer screen and see the creative side of our professions.
Even if they don't all plan to work in this sector in the future, they were able to see that IT isn't just for men, and we're happy to welcome them for an internship or apprenticeship if they'd like!