GATE students go to Computer History Museum

On Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, a group of GATE students went on a field trip to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

The Computer History Museum was full of thought-provoking exhibits. “I know this [makes me] sound like a kid at heart, but … [I liked] the electronic toys I saw at the museum,” says senior Bryanna Mendoza.

Senior Laura Ozorio agrees. “There were a bunch of toy robots on display,” says Ozorio. “It was interesting to see how that [blended in with] the other displays.”

Different students wanted to go for different reasons. “My parents always wanted me to get into computer science,” says Ozorio. “I don’t really know a lot about computer science.”

In contrast, somes students had significantly more experience with computer science. “I’ve done some computer camps over the summer,” says freshman Maya Bhaumik. “I’ve done some coding on Khan Academy … I have some experience in coding.”

Regardless, most students were fascinated by the history of computers. “It really affected me … it was really amazing,” comments Bhaumik.
“All this hard work that went into the technology we have today … the progress is amazing.” Mendoza agrees, “I saw a lot of things I didn’t really expect.”

Some students even had personal connections to the exhibits. “We saw the first robot that had artificial intelligence, and I found this really interesting because my mom works in Silicon Valley and she has worked in artificial intelligence,” says Bhaumik, “There was this robot named Shakey and it learned how to pick up different things.”

One of the teachers who went on the trip was the AP Computer Science and pre-calculus teacher, Lisa Kossifer. “Ms. Wang had asked me. She needed a second person to go with her and we had talked about it beforehand as a good field trip,” says Kossiver. “I’ve never been on a field trip in the 17 years I’ve been at this high school.”

As a woman in computer science, Kossiver had a unique perspective on the Computer History Museum. She says, “What was really interesting to me was how many women were involved in the beginning of computers, and I don’t think we ever talk about those women,” says Kossiver. “Even at the very beginning … the very first computer happened in the 1800 and then a woman was the one who kind of brought it to life. It was very interesting to see how many women were involved in the beginning of the whole computer age.”

The involvement of women in computer science was also clear in the students that attended the field trip. “All the [students who attended the field trip] were girls except for one,” mentions Kossiver.

Because the field trip was to a computer science Museum, it seems natural that AP Computer Science Students would go, but this was not the case. “The unfortunate thing about that type of student is that [they say] ‘I can’t miss school, I can’t miss school. ‘Only one [AP Computer Science] student went…we talked about [AP Computer Science] and how well she codes.”

While some science museums are common weekend locations for many people, the Computer History Museum is largely unheard of although it claims to have the world’s largest collection of computing artifacts.“I’ve been to the [Tech Museum] once, years ago,” says Kossiver. “I’ve never been to the Computer History Museum before. It was really interesting.”