Machine Learning, Demystified
VISST Summer Camp
July 18-22, 2022
Recommended ages: 11+
Self-driving cars, paintings authored by algorithms, artificial intelligences that seem almost human — machine learning is the thread that ties these amazing technologies together. So, is machine learning only accessible to researchers and engineers at powerful tech companies? Nope! This camp was designed — by an expert with a PhD from Harvard’s machine learning lab — to introduce you to the world of machine learning. No computer science or machine learning experience is expected.
Program Details
When?
The camp runs July 18-22, 2022 from 9am to 12pm each day.
Where?
The camp is located at the Vancouver Independent School for Science and Technology, located on the 2nd floor at 1490 W Broadway in Vancouver.
Who?
This camp is designed for kids aged 11+.
Cost
The camp fee is $225. However, if the fee is a barrier to your participation, a limited number of bursaries are available for eligible families - please contact us at workshops@visst.ca.
Why?
Join an eye-opening experience learning about a technology that affects us all, but that few people understand.
Gain experience in areas you won’t find in school, including how machine learning works and how it can be used or misused in society.
Enjoy a tailor-made machine learning curriculum for your age group, created by a team with strong experience in both machine learning and education. This will be hard to find somewhere else!
Meet like minded people with common interests in important areas of technology, science, and life.
Earn a certificate of completion from the Vancouver Independent School for Science and Technology.
Here’s what we’ll do:
Day 1:
Decision Trees
How does our email flag spam messages? How does our phone suggest what words to type next? On Day 1 we will investigate the decision tree learning algorithm, an intuitive and approachable machine learning method. While the methods used in practice are often more complex, with decision trees we can already explore the basic ideas of machine learning: how it works, why it works, and what it’s capable of.
Day 2:
Metrics & NLP
A fundamental question in machine learning is how to know if your ML algorithm is working. When playing a game of Candy Crush or Ultimate Frisbee, it’s pretty clear who is winning - we have a score for that! In machine learning, it’s not always easy to know if your algorithm is working as intended - and it’s also really important! On Day 2 we’ll delve into this question, working through fundamental concepts that every machine learning practitioner thinks about on a daily basis. Then, we’ll show how machine learning can be used for natural language processing (NLP), for example by understanding English text.
Day 3:
Computer Vision
When you take a picture with your phone, how does it recognize faces in the image? Do we need new algorithms when working with images and videos, or can we reuse what we already had? On Day 3 we’ll dive into computer vision, meaning algorithms that let computers “see”. We’ll think about how images and videos are stored in a computer, and then we’ll jump into some amazing examples of this technology at work.
Day 4:
Artificial Intelligence
How does machine learning relate to artificial intelligence? And what about those AI systems in the news like AlphaGo or self-driving cars? On Day 4 we’ll introduce the big ideas in machine learning that can be used to create intelligent systems. Then we’ll delve into some examples and see these algorithms in action!
Day 5:
ML in our Society
Machine learning has been incredibly successful in recent years, but at what cost? Recent books like Weapons of Math Destruction and movies like Coded Bias are revealing how machine learning can perpetuate bias and unfairness in our society. On Day 5 we’ll ask where machine learning is used (answer: a lot of places!) and how it is affecting us (answer: in more ways than we might think!).
Camp Instructors
Lead Instructor: Kavya Kaluarachi
Kavya graduated from UBC in 2020 with a BSc. Cognitive Systems, focusing on Computer Science. Since then, she's been working as a Software Engineer at IBM and as a tutor for students aged 6-18 in Math, English and Computer Science. She has experience working with web and mobile development, microservice architecture, machine learning and data science. Most importantly, Kavya enjoys working with students and is passionate about the intersection of technology and education. She hopes to pursue a career in the EdTech space and advocate for technical education for students!
Co-Instructor: Mike Gelbart
Mike Gelbart is the Co-Founder and Principal of VISST. He is currently on leave from his position as an Associate Professor of Teaching in the UBC Department of Computer Science, where he has taught over 25 courses from first-year to graduate level and also served as Co-Director of the UBC Master of Data Science program. Mike completed an undergraduate degree in physics at Princeton University and a PhD in machine learning at Harvard University. Mike designed this camp and co-taught it last summer in a virtual format.
Testimonials
Thanks for an awesome camp guys. I had a great time. I would definitely recommended this camp to my friends :)
- Participant from Machine Learning, Demystified, 2021
It was very fun and inclusive.
- Participant from Machine Learning, Demystified, 2021
I enjoyed learning how the machines work and learn.
- Participant from Machine Learning, Demystified, 2021
Our Story
We are a team of experienced educators opening a not-for-profit in-person high school in Vancouver to pursue our mission of educating high school students without leaving them wondering, Why am I learning this?
Join us! Sign up below.
This camp is now full. If you would like to join the waitlist in the event of a cancellation, please use the “Join Waitlist” button below. If you would like to stay up to date about future camps, you can join our mailing list here.
Questions?
Contact us at workshops@visst.ca
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