The Clarkston Independence District Library hosts an eight-hour hackathon on Dec. 1 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., as a part of Major League Hacking’s Local Hackathon Day.
A hackathon is a learning-focused creation marathon where participants dream up innovative, fun, and interesting projects. Participants work in small teams to bring their projects to life over the course of the event.
“You don’t need an idea or a team to attend,” said Nathan Dimmer, Clarkston High School sophomore and IT intern at CIDL.
There will be time at the beginning of the hackathon to meet new people to team up with, and brainstorm project ideas. Typical hackathon projects include building web apps, iOS or Android apps, and games.
Dimmer organized the program to provide students with a safe space for experimenting and creating with computers and code.
“I went to two 36-hour hackathons this year at universities, and I had a blast,” he said. “The attitude was that nothing was impossible, and the amount of creativity was amazing. I learned lots of real world coding skills at GrizzHacks, and wanted to bring that to Clarkston.”
The goal for this event is to introduce students to programming, and show them that anyone can learn to code. Everyone from middle school through college is welcome, regardless of their coding experience.
Resources and instructional workshops will be presented on different technology topics to help beginners get started, such as “No-Code App Development with Mendix” and “How to Create Your First Amazon Alexa Skill.”
Hardware available for attendees will include Spheros, Gear VR, Ozobots, 3Doodler 3D Printing Pens, Little Bits, and Raspberry Pi.
Spheros and Ozobots can be programmed using an easy-to-learn, visual programming language, so attendees can try programming without any prior knowledge. For those who want to try programming something new, there will be a Raspberry Pi kit with tons of sensors one can use to create programs that interact with the real world, he said.
The library will have computers and other supplies available, but participants are welcome to bring their own laptops, chargers, and anything else they want to use for their projects. A photo ID or library card is required to use the library’s hardware.
Food and drink will be provided.
For more information and to register for this event, visit LHD.MLH.io/2018/e/697. Drop-ins are also welcome.