When software developer Tom Marx opened Bits, Bytes & Bots (BB&B) three years ago in Boulder, CO, it was his bid to put the fun back into technology. What he's done is to fire the imaginations of a few thousand kids with the creative possibilities that come with being born into the first truly high-tech generation.

"I was a developer for about a decade and wanted to get out of the industry and rediscover the joy of technology. I also had worked with the Mindstorms Robots with my child and thought they made a great teaching tool," Tom says. "I believe that children love to learn given the right environment. I also think that kids are not getting the technology education in this country that they need to compete in the global information economy. We hope, in a small way, to excite kids about the fun of working in the technology field."

Kids definitely have fun while they're learning and after one visit to a robot camp, have been known to plead for more. On occasion their inventiveness surprises even their instructors. "Our kids have produced some amazing robots," Tom recalls. "The Lego League team we sponsored this year built a robot with removable tops to quickly change robot functionality for the different challenges. And people still talk about the Crab bot from our first summer, a Sumo bot that couldn't be beaten. We also built robots that explored a classroom version of Mars, acted like they were part of an ecosystem and that played soccer," he adds.

BB&B (at http://www.bitsbytesbots.com) not only ignites an interest in learning for underachievers, it can be the salvation of overachievers who become bored with the slower learning curve of traditional school classes. "We see lots of gifted children who don't have a good time in school. They love our project-based activities because they can move at their own pace," Tom explains.

"We work very hard to make sure kids with a wide range of abilities can all find a stimulating atmosphere. Our activities also appeal to kids who don't learn as well with books or in a traditional classroom because they are more visually oriented and because kids can move around during our activities. Kids learn lots of computer skills, basic programming skills and concepts, and the notion of trial and error," he says, adding that this is a concept that's "sadly lacking in schools today."

Perhaps predictably, bot-building is a bigger draw for boy than girls. "We do not see anywhere near as many girls as we would like," he says. "However, when girls do participate in our activities, they have a great time. We are working with the girl scouts to bring our programs to more girls. I am concerned with how few girls and women go into computer science and engineering in this country. Technical jobs will be some of the best jobs in the future and those who play with technology as kids will be the best prepared for the good jobs of the future."

Lego Sumo is one of the competitions held at the camp and it's also a party favorite. As Tom describes it, "A typical birthday for a nine-year-old would involve the kids building a sumo bot and then being taught how to program it. They then have battles of from two to 14 robots! While all the robots start out the same, by the end of the two-hour party, the robots have all taken on their own personality, with different extensions and decorations. The kids are jumping up and down, yelling for their robot. Cheers and moans arise when the final winner is determined by being the last robot to not touch the floor outside of the wooden Sumo ring, a white circular board with a black edge. The kids actually program a light sensor to detect the black line themselves."



Tom Marx advises parents on what to look for when choosing a technology camp for their kids:

• Consider the age range at the camps. Do you want your eight-year-old in class with a 16-year-old? What is the typical age range? A 14-year-old in class with lots of younger children might feel out of place.
• Also, ask if students will be taught by teachers or by computer-based training. Computer-based tutorials are a fine way to teach adults and are okay for some summer camp teaching, but you don't want your child being taught for an entire week that way. Kids respond best to a live person teaching and responding to their questions. The quality of the teachers determines the quality of the teaching.
• Computer camps are expensive and usually cost a bit more than other summer camps. A good computer camp will have highly qualified instructors, and that comes at a price. The reward is that your child will not just learn new skills but will also learn new ways of thinking. Most camps are a week long and last from three hours to a full day. Take into consideration your child's attention span. We find kids in elementary school, and even in middle school, have a hard time concentrating on one topic for an entire day. Half-day classes work very well. If you want your child in a full-day camp, sign them up for a morning class and an afternoon class. The break in topics keeps them excited all day long.

According to Tom, a great place for parents to start their search is to find out if there is a FIRST Lego League in their area at http://www.usfirst.org/jrobtcs/flego.htm. Also, a popular newsgroup for Mindstorms fans is http://news.lugnet.com/robotics.

As the camp says, technology can be "bots of fun!