A Columbia Falls High School computer class will now learn to write computer code using a robotic game, thanks to several grants.

High school business teacher Diane Marsh received three grants to help fund the project for her Google Apps and more class. She received $1,400 from the Plum Creek Foundation, $1,498 from DonorsChoose.org and $250 from KPAX TV’s One Class at a Time. The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act also contributed to the purchase.

The grants helped purchase 26 Bluetooth tablets and 26 Sphero balls, which will give students a crash-course in coding while improving their math skills. Coding is a fast-growing field in computer science. 

The robotic balls are a gaming device that a person controls with a tilt, touch or swing from the tablet or smartphone. Each Sphero ball has a name, one of them is BOR, or Blue Orange Red for the colors that it cycles between, Marsh said.

“This idea is 100 percent student-driven,” Marsh said. “In my classes, students have shown a great interest in computer coding. I added a Google Apps and more class to meet that interest.” She is teaching two of these classes this semester to a mix of grades.”

For the students’ final project, they will use their tablets to write code that allows them to navigate the balls through a series of obstacles and a maze without touching the sides, she said. 

“Coding isn’t easy, but it isn’t hard either when students can learn while they play,” she said.

The code will tell the ball simple commands, such as move 1 foot, turn a 90 degree angle, change colors or move backwards 3 feet. 

The class will take on the project toward the end of the semester after learning Microsoft Access, a database program, that teaches them about if-then functions, Marsh said. 

The students also have to write a research paper on whether Google robots are taking over the world.

Several of Marsh’s students already have tablets at home and are interested in coding, but a few said they don’t like math.

“By combining technology and math with robotics, this program will teach and inspire our students to become innovators in this field,” Marsh said. “We want to make sure our students not only know how to play a video game but how to create one as well.”

Demand for coders is high.

There are currently 751 open computing jobs in the state, according to Code.org, a website that promotes computer science education. But in 2013, there were only 84 computer science graduates in the state to fill those positions.