The galactIQ Academy
Joining the academy
Advanced Students
The 23/24 school season at galactIQ Academy (ICANCODE SCHOOL) is going to be very special. Our advanced students are going to discover a much higher tech universe level, how it's actually built and programmed. And they are going to do it from a 100% practical approach:they will work on real challenges, we will simulate and solve true problems and we will give them the freedom to be much more creative. Ah yes! What techniques will they learn? let's see:
- 3D Modelling and printing (Only at the galactIQ Academy)
- Programming with Arduino (Not available on online lessons)
- Programming in python
- Programming on Java
- Lego Spike robotics (Not available on online lessons)
- Web programming languages
- Micro:bit robotics development
- Video editing and publishing
- Startup planning
- Problem-solving skills
- Media literacy
New students
Our beginner level students will walk through the galactIQ structural curriculum. Hundreds of children from 5 to 18 years old have learned the complete basis of robotics programming and engineering in a fun, interesting and educational way using our STEAM methodology. They will design video games, build and program robots or they will learn to write and read the basic programming languages (HTML, CSS, Javascript, Python). Finally we will educate them in something very important in their lives: to understand the digital world that surrounds them and we will give them tools to be safe and behave correctly in the online environment. They'll become proficient in:
- Robotics (Lego WeDo and Spike)
- Micro:bit robotics and programming
- Video Game Development (Scratch)
- Programming languages (Codepen)
- Media literacy
- Digital creativity
PHYSICAL GROUPS
Monthly plan
99€/month (VAT included)
Start, pause or resume your subscription any time before the 1st of each month.
Yearly plan
990€/year (VAT included)
Full access from September to June
Get a 10% discount with our yearly plan using the coupon EARLY23 only for the first 10 sign ups.
ONLINE GROUPS
Monthly plan
99€/month (VAT included)
The online groups include a Microbit® V2 device for the beginners/intermidiate groups or an Arduino® starter kit for the advanced groups. We ship it to your home after registration.
Start, pause or resume your subscription any time before the 1st of each month.
Yearly plan
990€/year (VAT included)
Full access from September to June
In general these are the dates when the galactIQ Academy does not give lessons during the year:
- Autumn break: 14 – 22 October 2023
- Winter break: 24 December 2023 – 8 January 2024
- Spring break: 10 - 18 February
- Easter Monday: 18 April
- May break: 27 April – 5 May
- Ascension day: 18 May
- Whit Monday: 29 May
- Summer holiday: 6 July - 18 August
OUR SUMMERCAMPS
Our summer camps are normally 3 or 5-day-long events with 3 to 4 hour-long sessions each day. During these events GalactIQ's specialists (normally 2 or 3 specialists per event) take care of a maximum of 16 students. In general we organise kids in teams of 2 students each, we provide different names for each team and they get a t-shirt with their team's logo to wear while the competition takes place.
During these sessions, all students will learn new techniques (engineering and programming) in order to develop their very own robotics creation and compete with other teams in a secure environment. All our students receive a diploma at the end of the camp and the winners get a trophy that normally is 3D printed.
ONLINE LESSONS. THE RULES.
So you are thinking of joining our super cool online lessons, here are some ground rules and tips:
1- GalactIQ won't provide computers, internet connection or technical solutions to probable device or home's wifi's technical issues.
2- It is very important that the device each student will use to attend our online lessons is up to date in terms of Operating System (latest version of windows, IOS, MacOS, etc).
3- We use a video conferencing app called ZOOM.US (https://zoom.us/), it is a must that each device used to attend our lessons has this App installed and tested.
4- We also recommend you to test the app (test microphone, speakers and video). Please take a look at this link https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/zoom/how-to-test-your-microphone-and-speakers-...
5- Our staff will send you a MEETING ID + PASSWORD via email at least one hour before the online lesson. Students should access the meeting at least 10 minutes before the lesson, each student should have the zoom.us app open and entered the MEETING ID and PASSWORD in order to be ready before the lesson kicks off.
6- If a student arrives too late to the lesson, he or she will be able to join following the same instructions provided above.
7- Our staff will send the instructions of the lesson before it starts (we normally send all the instructions before the first lesson, which should be applicable throughout the whole month of teaching).
8- Depending of the curriculum being taught, students might have to have another software available and open on their devices before the lesson starts (Scratch, Sublime Text, Lego WeDo, other).
BEST PRACTICES DURING THE LESSON
A- Each student should be respectful, listen to the teacher at all times and keep order when participating in the lesson.
B- Make yourself some questions before joining our online courses:
+ Does my device have battery?
+ Have I tested ZOOM.US before the lesson starts? Microphone ok? Camera ok? Speakers ok?
+ Do I know my credentials to log on Scratch.mit.edu?
+ Do I have access to Sublime Text or Codepen on my computer (We will provide credentials and instructions to use these software before the lesson starts)
+ Am I in a very noisy place? Am I going to be able to follow the lesson and not bother other students?
Any other doubts, please contact us via info@galactiq.app
DO I HAVE TO BRING MY OWN COMPUTER?
If you are attending a group at our agency, we'll provide computers, robots and all. If you are attending one of our groups at another primary school, the school provides the computers and GalactIQ provides the robotics. Anyway, if there is a special case we'll make sure you are the first one to know, otherwise the answer is 'NO, you don't have to bring anything but enthusiasm and a good mood'.
CAN I CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION?
Do you want out? well, here are the rules:
A- If you have a flexible subscription, you can hop on and off whenever you want with a simple condition: let us know at least one 7 natural days before the end of the month, otherwise it will be too late and you'll have to pay the next invoice.
B- If you have a yearly subscription, we can only give you back the remaining months if you are officially moving to a city far away from Maastricht. Otherwise you might invite other person to use your subscription.
Please take a look at our TERMS & CONDITIONS
WHAT ABOUT SCHOOL HOLIDAYS!?
Well, this is a recurring question. It's simple, our groups receive 1.5hrs every week except on school holidays. In general as an average we deliver 3.8 lessons per month (5.7hours of Coding and Robotics per month) taking a full schooling year (10 months). Of course if you join in the month of December what's likely to happen is that you will receive 3 lessons, but some other months depending on the weekday of you lesson, you'd receive up to 5 lessons in a month.
You will find the school holiday list in a yellow button on every GROUP tab, on every school page in this website, for instance you can take a look at the calendar at UNITED WORLD COLLEGE to find this yellow button at the top.
HOW MUCH IS A SUBSCRIPTION?
The galactIQ Academy is open to girls and boys from 5 to 13 years old and you have two modalities to attend the courses of this fun academy:
1- Online classes. Follow our weekly classes via zoom in groups of no more than 6 students with one of our teachers. These lessons last one hour each week and their subscription is €99 / month (VAT included) and 999€/10 months (September-June) or 891€/9 months (October-June) if you choose the yearly subscription.
2- Face-to-face classes. These classes are currently held only in the city of Maastricht (Netherlands) in two different centers: ICANCODE SCHOOL in the city center or at the prestigious United World College (Discusworp 65, 6225 XP Maastricht). These lessons last an hour and a half each week and the subscription is priced at €99 / month (VAT included) and 999€/10 months (September-June) or 891€/9 months (October-June) if you choose the yearly subscription.
Click the button 'Join today!' below 👇. In the subscription form, choose the type of class you want to attend (online or face-to-face), choose the payment method (if you pay annually you benefit from a discount of almost 10%) and finally choose the group that best suits you.
WHEN DO LESSONS BEGIN?
At galactIQ lessons will start on the 4th of September 2023
At UWC, lessons will start on the 18th of September 2023
At Aloysius and BS Scharn, lessons start on the 2nd of October 2023
For other schools please contact us via hello@galactiq.app
...HMM, SO WHAT ABOUT STUDY DAYS?
Aha! Study days are awesome, right? they feel like weekends... but they are not for us. Our program does not stop unless is an official school holiday. The lessons will take place at your usual school, at the same time on the usual day, so don't miss out! We'll be there waiting for us.
Joining the academy
The galactIQ Academy is open to girls and boys from 5 to 18 years old and you have two modalities to attend the courses of this fun academy:
1- Physical lessons. These classes are currently held only in the city of Maastricht at the galactIQ Academy (QESKE, François de Veyestraat 8B 6221 AB Maastricht) and associated schools. These lessons last 1.5 hrs each week* and the admissions for early birds are open in July, while the course begins in September.
2- Online lessons. Follow our weekly classes via zoom in groups of no more than 6 students with one of our expert teachers. These lessons last 1.5 hrs each week* and the admissions for early birds are open in July, while the course begins in September. For this type of subscription we will also provide a micro:bit board to follow our robotics lessons.
To follow the online galactIQ Academy you just need to download zoom.us on your computer or tablet. It is important to know that for the little ones (from 5 to 7 years old) an adult from home must accompany them during the class.
For more information, please visit our ONLINE SCHOOL section.
* There is no class during official school holidays.
Click the button 'Join today!' below 👇. In the subscription form, choose the type of class you want to attend (online or physically), choose the subscription plan (if you pay annually you benefit from our 'early bird' 10% discount using the COUPON 'EARLY23' in your checkout) and finally choose the day of the week that suits you best.
NOTE ABOUT GROUPS AND LEVELS: our team will group the children according to their experience, age group and language.
-
"A practical approach with a lot of creativity ..."
My kids attended the galactIQ Academy for more than two years. During this period, Diego and Gabriel learned many cool things such as programming with Scratch, creating websites with Javascript and HTML, programming Lego based robots, among others.
The staff are kind, professional and always willing to help. The approach is hands on with a lot of creativity involved. It was a very pleasant and rewarding experience for my kids. I strongly recommended it for all kids (and adults) who want to develop programming and robotics skills while applying their creativity and enjoying an entertaining learning environment.
-
It's easy and fun
"Galactiq is the perfect way to learn and teach coding and robotics to younger kids, even when having minimal to no coding experience yourself. Before each class, I go over today's lesson to gain an understanding of today's targets and goals. With hands-on information solely available for teachers, you can use Galactiq as a manual to learn everything needed to teach the class."
-
"...the lesson was so well scaffolded..."
We used the first episode in the robotics series and our students thoroughly enjoyed the lesson. The instructions were comprehensive for both the students and the teachers and the children could follow them to build their individual rover and were thrilled to see that the commands they set made the rover move. As teachers, we valued the fact that the lesson was so well scaffolded and it included opportunities for discussion as well as for practising digital skills. We can see the potential of this educational solution and how it could complement a primary school’s curriculum.
-
A fantastic tool for teachers
"Galactiq is a fantastic tool for teachers. It helps manage the flow of the lesson, get an overview of how students are doing, encourages student participation and collaboration. It is very comfortable to teach using Galactiq!"
-
Impressive!
"The video game development episodes are broken down into manageable steps, which allowed all the children in my class to develop a functioning, playable game. What really impressed me though, were the opportunities to experiment with the code; allowing my class to create a truly unique game. I can’t believe how quick we went from zero to hero!"
-
Simple and effective
"The step by step construction and coding instructions on galatIQ were simple and effective, ensuring student success regardless of their ability. Along with the instructions, the online tutorials kept students engaged and encouraged them to grow in confidence over the course of the week. The students particularly were inspired to be ambitious with their designs; creating unique and innovative robots. Overall, it is a brilliant experience!"
