Getting kids started

I have been teaching my son and a friend of his for about 5 months on the Raspberry Pi.  They were 13 year old when they started.  I decided to use C as it's most useful in computer science and engineering.  I think programming alone is too dry for most kids. It's more interesting for them to see how they can write programs to control other electronics.  If you use the wiringPi library (great thanks to Gordon Drogon), it's pretty easy to get things going.  We started with writing programs to do simple tasks like turning LEDs on and off, processing input switches, controlling motors, then moving on to more complex tasks.  They really like to work with LEDs and write programs to flash LEDs in different patterns.  We had up to 24 LEDs on one breadboard and ran out of space :-).  It's pretty easy to learn enough C programming to do simple tasks in a few days.  However, it's probably a bit too abstract for kids younger than 12. 

We have been using the Raspbian "wheezy" image and pretty happy with it.  You can install Samba so that the kids can connect to the Raspberry Pi, edit the programs and run everything from the PCs.  wiringPi library is a must have if you want to connect the Raspberry Pi to LEDs, buttons, sensors, etc. 

I have been teaching my son and a friend of his for about 5 months on the Raspberry Pi.  They were 13 year old when they started.  I decided to use C as it's most useful in computer science and engineering.  I think programming alone is too dry for most kids. It's more interesting for them to see how they can write programs to control other electronics.  If you use the wiringPi library (great thanks to Gordon Drogon), it's pretty easy to get things going.  We started with writing programs to do simple tasks like turning LEDs on and off, processing input switches, controlling motors, then moving on to more complex tasks.  They really like to work with LEDs and write programs to flash LEDs in different patterns.  We had up to 24 LEDs on one breadboard and ran out of space :-).  It's pretty easy to learn enough C programming to do simple tasks in a few days.  However, it's probably a bit too abstract for kids younger than 12. 

We have been using the Raspbian "wheezy" image and pretty happy with it.  You can install Samba so that the kids can connect to the Raspberry Pi, edit the programs and run everything from the PCs.  wiringPi library is a must have if you want to connect the Raspberry Pi to LEDs, buttons, sensors, etc. 

Well I had some time to put it together and do some testing/playing with the PiMatrix http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hiOmja1a7A I

It is a not a great piece of engineering but is a good gizmo to teach kids how computers work, binary and hexadecimal numbers, give them a 8x8 matrix template on paper and have them come up with shapes, fonts, perhaps some animations, etc.

Besides what it is attached to the Rpi the plan is to make a couple large matrix displays ( about 3x3feet ) that will receive commands via zigbee from a controlling Rpi.

I'll most probably post online some of the ideas using a matrix like this using Python and Scratch.

Cheers

Jorge

I finished my first Raspberry Pi summer camp here at the museum.  I had 8 kids ranging in age from 8 1/2 to 12. The youngest was a girl and she was very focused. The 9 year old boy had about a 3 minute attention span. The older kids did fine. The cfamp was a 5 days, 3 hrs per day. First day and a half focused on the Pi and the remaining time was Python Turtle.  Here's what a learned:

1. Have the Pi's already setup with the expansion of the SD card and the keyboard config (for U.S. folks).

2. Also perform upgrades several days in advance because each one takes quite a while.

3. I used Chris Roffey's Python Basic, Coding Club which I learned about from the Dunbar Science Club (see their Web page).

4. To me, the Education Manual that is available for the Pi is too advanced for 11 & 12 year olds.  I may use it for my follow-up Intermediate Python programming (again, using the Pi).

5. I'm going to teach one of the educators here that works well with younger kids the basics of the Pi and then let her teach 8 & 9 year olds how to program using Scratch.

6. I will have another intro class later in Sept. then offer two intermediate classes in Oct: one will focus more on programming and the other on connecting things to the Pi.

Feel free to contact me directly if you want some more info on what I learned: bgrawburg at imaginescience dot org.

Thanks Brian for sharing the results of your camp.

I agree with you that the education manual is way too much for early teens, I also found that kids don't get it that easy if you jump right away to a programming language without first spending a considerable amount of time teaching them the basics of computer architecture, what is a program, how the computer executes them, etc.

Many of the kids I worked with have a formed idea coming from what is an App for iOS/Android and don't get easily why we go to the hassle of writing code if I can download an App and get it running in few minutes.

Also for the younger kids I found that it is more easy to teach them how to program in Scratch using a cheap laptop or netbook, or Hopscotch on an iPad. One of the local School Districts just purchased 20,000 iPads.

Teachers found that getting the Rpi ready to do anything was cumbersome and time consuming, and sometimes frustrating when a couple of SD cards refused to work.

I've serious doubts about how good the Rpi is as an educational tool, even for robotics projects there is a much better "ecosystem" around Lego Mindstorms if the school robotics lab is engaged in programs like FIRST.

On Science Lab related projects, given the I/O limitations and other factors, it was more cost effective and reliable to use a Beagle Bone board, and way much better the new Beagle Bone Black where you don't even need a SD card to run the embedded OS.

On the other hand I had to give a negative recommendation about the Rpi to the school district due the lack of a response about FCC Class B certification and public access to the test reports including the hazardous materials test.

Still the Rpi is a cool and cheap electronic board to tinker with embedded Linux and some particular projects.

My .02

Jorge