Python and Machine Learning Summer Program with iD Tech
iD Tech Camps offers high school level summer technology courses in the United States. Source: iD Tech Camps, 2019.
Summer programs offer teenage students an opportunity to pursue their intellectual and creative interests beyond the courses that are commonly offered in a school. This summer I attended a week-long program called iD Tech at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Being a scientifically oriented individual, I chose to familiarize myself with computer sciences and artificial intelligence.
Over the two years I have developed an interest in machine learning with the ability for artificial intelligences to grow and adapt further than programmed. What intrigued me was the seemingly unlimited potential and applications of this technology. At MIT, I enrolled in an intro to Python and machine learning course for teenage students. Python is one of the newer languages, which comes with packages and functions that are optimal to machine learning.
During my week at iD Tech, I gained a basic understanding of the Python language. Furthermore, the class assignments and projects offered us an opportunity to apply the skills we learned with real problems.
The majority of the work for the course was the final project, where students could create any program they wanted as long as they used functions that we learned in class. For my project, I used Python to code a text base game where a hero who has access to multiple skills fights progressively harder monsters.
While we were learning, the program still gave time to relax. Classes were individually paced to allow the instructor to help each student with their own projects. Furthermore, the program offered a choice of unrelated activities in the afternoon, such as board games, sports and video games.
A group of students playing Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes at MIT summer course 2019. Source: iD Tech Camps, 2019.
One thing to note is that the course was only a week long, so we did not delve very deep into machine learning. However, the week provided an introduction to Python and its applications to artificial intelligence. Although I prefer greater coverage of machine learning, the course is still a great option for those new to and interested in Python and machine learning.
