....................don't talk about computing club
It struck me today that my computing club is made up almost entirely of girls. It also occurred to me that I hadn't ever publicly called it computing club.
I started the group to work up some entries for the Sonic Pi space music competition. A small group of students (10) arrived the first week and I showed them how to set up the Raspberry Pi and gave them a quick introduction to the Sonic Pi interface. Before long they were producing basic tunes and adding loops.
The group has since grown to around 15 regularly attending students and they are all engaging in coding pieces of music for the competition. It was not until I was looking through the list that I realised quite how many girls I had ended up with. out of the 15 I only have 3 boys who regularly attend (compared with our scratch games club that is entirely boys).
I have worked before with groups of students using Sonic Pi and found that it is great for engaging all students (not mainly the boys like a lot of the robotics work I have done) but this was something different as none of the students had used Sonic Pi before.
This was a marketing issue!
I sent round the poster along with a note to all of the Y7-9 classes asking for anyone who wanted to try making music with the Raspberry Pi, no previous experience necessary. There was no mention of computing, coding, or programming.
The response was all from students who were interested in making music rather than those interested in programming. They now all know (not that it was a big secret really) that to make the music they are coding, but they are making music. This appears to be a difference in the approach to what they are doing and has affected how they are engaged with something new. They are not intrinsically interested in the method of making the computer do something, they are interested in the end result (in this case music).
I now have a predominantly female group of programmers all engaged in coding. Once we have finished working on the music competition I am going to be looking for ways to maintain this engagement using the output as the motivator and the coding as the 'what you have to do to get there' bit.
Friday 19 December 2014
Wednesday 19 November 2014
Raspberry Pi CPD in Sheffield
Part of the idea of Picademy was that delegates would go out and spread the word. So as part of my effort I spent this evening delivering Raspberry Pi CPD to the Sheffield CAS hub at Sheffield Hallam University.
The session was mainly made up of Computing ITT students from Sheffield Hallam University so it was really interesting to see a different approach to new information (from my secondary pupils). Most of the delegates had little or no exposure but there were two who had used the Pi for their own projects (a security camera and a remote media center).
After a quick introduction to the Pi we spent time describing how the Pi could be set up in classrooms and introduced the Raspberry Pi foundation's resources. Preparing for this event gave me the chance to look again at what is provided and the resources there really do give all the information that you need to get started using the Raspberry Pi and moving on to using it productively in the classroom.
After the set up and a brief summary of some of activities available for using the Pi in the classroom I spent some time focusing on some of my favorite schemes. as a parent of a 7 year old I can't avoid minecraft at home and have found that it is equally as engaging for secondary pupils. I shared some of Craig Richardson's resources from his blog on Minecraft Pi - Arghbox. the delegates were also given a chance to try out some of the scripts on the Pi's they had set up. This may have been a mistake with some of the more game obsessed ITT students (mainly male). This was hastily used to point out the importance of choosing classes and classroom management strategy carefully when using a game students are already familiar with.
We then looked at some of the other ideas I have used in the classroom. The use of Sonic Pi (paticularly as an application that appears to appeal more equally to both genders) to engage students creativity and teach programming in a fun way. We also looked at the possibilities using the GPIO pins for physical computing. I am very interested in 'Personally Meaningful Projects' as a key motivator for students to get involved in programming and the GPIO pins provide this possibility. I shared some example of projects my students and students from further afield have created using the Pi. We also discussed the support available from the community.
The great thing about the ITT students is that once they had a spark of an idea they appeared very enthusiastic to take this on and try using this in their teaching practices. Several were keen to borrow the university Raspberry Pi set and some were talking about purchasing their own and projects they could work on. Hopefully this talk will be converted to action and there will be a few more computing teachers in Sheffield schools enthused about the benefits of using Raspberry Pi in the classroom. If nothing else I did a little Picademy product placement and did my best (if not quite 'The Apprentice' level) pitch for the resources available on the Raspberry Pi site. I left the event feeling buzzy and motivated to do it again so it can't be all bad.
The Prezi I used to as a place holder for the introductory videos and some links for the resources we discussed is here.
As a side / end note this was a chance to play with some presentation tech I can only dream of in my classroom. I had a Pi on one button, the Prezi on another and a visualiser showing the actual Pi on a third. This was the first time I had used the set up at the university and I was very pleased with the possibilities. At the press of a swanky touch screen I could switch between the projected picture of my hands doing magic with the Pi and the actual out put of the Pi, then switch to the diagram on the Prezi showing the possible connections. This made the screen work hard for me and really helped to show what was going on. The only downside was managing multiple mice and a second keyboard a few paces away (due to the university padlocked setup) and talking at the same time. I don't imagine I will be getting this sort of system in my classroom anytime soon but it was good to try it out for an evening.
Monday 8 September 2014
Conversations with computers using python
I had the idea of making the standard 'Hello World' introduction to programming a new language a little bit more interesting for my Y7 class.
The idea of the computer conversations and the recent Turing test success or (near success) by Eugene gave me the idea of getting the students to make a (vastly simplified) version of Eugene using Python. The plan would be to teach them some basic Python concepts like displaying information and filling variables based on user input and then maybe progress onto selection.
This would initially start as a very simple program with them entering their name and then including the name in the response. The students could then work up some complexity from there using more questions. The next step would be to switch things round and have the computer answer user question based on a list of pre-programmed responses.
The Plan
Introduction
Show the class a video by way of introduction to the test. Something like - Jeremy Clarkson Explains the Turing test or The Turing test, as described by Expect Labs CEO, Timothy Tuttle.Explain the plan to create a basic chat bot that can have a basic conversation with the user.
Task 1- Hello World
Students to open IDLE and the a new window. They then create a basic 'Hello World' program and save and run.
e.g.
print ('hello world!')
Students to experiment changing hello world for whatever greeting they choose. (Yes they will probably make it say rude words!)
Task 2 - Talk to me
Obviously this is a pretty one boring conversation so we need to add in the ability for the user to input information.
e.g.
myName == input('What is your name?')
print ('hello ' + myName)
Students to experiment with this and then try adding more questions.
e.g.
myName == input('What is your name?')
print ('hello ' + myName)
myColour == input('What is your favourite colour?')
Task 3 - Selection
myColour == input('What is your favourite colour?')
Task 3 - Selection
To try and make the computer's responses a little more realistic it would be good if the response wasn't the same what ever you type so we can add add selection to change the response based on what is input.
This can start with a simple if else:
e.g.
myColour == input('What is your favourite colour?')
if myColour == 'orange':
else:
print ('It is nice that you like ' + myColour + myName + ' I prefer orange')
This can then be moved on to add more choice using else if (elif):
e.g.
myColour == input('What is your favourite colour?')
if myColour == 'orange':
elif myColour == 'black':
print (myName + ' your are strange ' + myColour + ' is not even a real colour, how can it be your favourite?')
else:
print ('It is nice that you like ' + myColour + myName + ' I prefer orange')
Task 4 - Ask me a question
This basic idea can then be used to switch things around and let the students ask questions. This will only handle a pre-programmed list of questions and answers but completes the very basic conversation idea.
This can be added to the first code or used to start a new program. if in the same program some of the old variables can be used to add more interest.
First the computer needs to prompt the user to ask a question:
myQuestion == input('Ask me a Question?')
if myQuestion == 'how old are you':
print ('I am 12, how old are you ' + myName + ' ?')
elif myQuestion == 'What is your name?':
print ('My name is Simon')
else:
print ('Sorry i didn't understand that question')
Students experiment with their own versions.
This can start with a simple if else:
e.g.
myColour == input('What is your favourite colour?')
if myColour == 'orange':
else:
print ('It is nice that you like ' + myColour + myName + ' I prefer orange')
This can then be moved on to add more choice using else if (elif):
e.g.
myColour == input('What is your favourite colour?')
if myColour == 'orange':
elif myColour == 'black':
print (myName + ' your are strange ' + myColour + ' is not even a real colour, how can it be your favourite?')
else:
print ('It is nice that you like ' + myColour + myName + ' I prefer orange')
Task 4 - Ask me a question
This basic idea can then be used to switch things around and let the students ask questions. This will only handle a pre-programmed list of questions and answers but completes the very basic conversation idea.
This can be added to the first code or used to start a new program. if in the same program some of the old variables can be used to add more interest.
First the computer needs to prompt the user to ask a question:
myQuestion == input('Ask me a Question?')
if myQuestion == 'how old are you':
print ('I am 12, how old are you ' + myName + ' ?')
elif myQuestion == 'What is your name?':
print ('My name is Simon')
else:
print ('Sorry i didn't understand that question')
Students experiment with their own versions.
This is a fairly simple program so it only has one question opportunity and only a couple of possible questions. If students still have time then they could be challenged to find a way to give more than one question opportunity or add further questions and answers. Another idea is for the students to program a combination of questions for the student and opportunities to answer questions like in a conversation, they could also look at getting the answers from a text file and possibly they could use the text file to allow the program to 'learn' by storing answers given by students to questions and then use those to respond when it is asked that question later!
Plenary
Show some examples of students programs to the class and use them to highlight the key parts of the program.
Plenary
Show some examples of students programs to the class and use them to highlight the key parts of the program.
Further Resources
Since writing this I have found a short scheme of work based on the turning test on the Rapspberry Pi website http://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/turing-test-lessons/. This 3 lesson scheme explains the idea of the Turing test and uses a speech module to have the robot speak to you.
Thursday 3 July 2014
Making music with Y5s
We had our Y5 Day at school last week. After tweeting about the day using Sonic Pi I had a couple of requests for information about what I did. So I have documented the plan and my observations here.
We were given a slot in the creativity strand so I thought this was an ideal opportunity to do something a bit different and engaging. The plan was to make some music with Sonic Pi and teach a bit of programming along the way. I had been given three session each of one hour. I set up the classroom before the students arrived with each Pi already hooked up and running Sonic Pi v2.0 (from my Picademy SD card image).
I had an interactive whiteboard with simple display software (ActivInspire on a Promethean board) to allow me to write on the board. Unfortunately I was not able to display my Pi screen to the students using the projector. So I had a large monitor that the students could see when they initially gathered around a central table for the introduction.
The plan was heavily based on the Picademy session delivered by Dr Sam Aaron and Carrie Ann Philbin. I also used the Sonic Pi article in Magpie issue 23 as a reference.
The Plan
Introduction - (approx 5 min)
Find out who had done any programming before or used scratch (to adapt the complexity and to be used later as an example if they knew how to do things in scratch)Introduce Sonic Pi, show a quick example of what can be done using a preprogrammed routine or one of the example scripts. Show what happens when some of the parameters are changed by getting students to change them.
Activity 1 - (approx 15 min)
Explain simple play and sleep commands, write some examples on the board.e.g.
play 68
sleep 1
play 58
sleep 1
Students to experiment with their own simple tunes, and with changing the midi numbers and sleep durations.
Activity 2 - (approx 10 min)
Explain that to get a tune we often have repeated elements.Explain that this could be done by retyping the code but this would not be efficient.Introduce loops (if some have prior knowledge of scratch ask them what we do in scratch to do this - put 'forever' around the code) show students how this is done with Sonic Pi. I did this by adding the loop do to the code I had written on the board earlier to show how it wrapped round the code like the 'forever' in scratch.
e.g.
loop do
play 68
sleep 1
play 58
sleep 1
end
Students to experiment adding loops to their code.
N.B. at this point I had some students asking 'what if i only want to repeat it x times?' so I added an adhoc extra activity to explain.
Activity 2a - (approx 10 min)
Explain that we might want to repeat a specified number of times instead of keep looping forever. Explain that this can be done with '.times do'. Again I used the code I had on the board to show how this worked removing the loop do and adding the new command
e.g.
3.times do
play 68
sleep 1
play 58
sleep 1
end
Students to experiment with repeating a specified number of times.
3.times do
play 68
sleep 1
play 58
sleep 1
end
Students to experiment with repeating a specified number of times.
Activity 3 - (approx 10 min)
Introduce the 'sample' command. I used a new slide on my display to show an example sample command then asked students what we would do if we wanted it to loop.e.g.
sample :loop_amen
sleep 1.753
this then became
loop do
sample :loop_amen
sleep 1.753
end
Students to experiment with adding samples
Activity 4 - (approx 10 min)
Introduce the examples to students. Show them where to find the examples and synth information using 'Help'. Remind them that the numbers in blue are parameters that can be changed.
Students to experiment with the use_synth command and using example blocks. Put together a small piece of music
Plenary - (approx 5 min)
Quick reminder of the main learning points; sequencing, loops efficiency....Play out students work (or some examples if not enough time) to rest of the class.
Show and Tell
At the end of the day there was a 'show and tell' assembly where parents of the y6 pupils, the primary school staff and the Y7s and staff who helped on the day were invited to hear about what the students had been doing.Each school chose a couple of volunteer students to show what they had been doing in the last session. For the students who were in my last session this included a performance of their music in the hall. This was especially well received and really showed what could be achieved in a very short time by students who had no previous experience with Sonic Pi (or in most case any written programming at all).
How it went
The sessions on the whole worked well. We had a limited number of working Rapsberry Pi set-ups and with some groups that made it difficult to get everyone fully involved; for some large groups we had some groups of four working with one Pi. This was due to a number of factors but mainly due to a batch of corrupted memory cards and limited capacity to build new cards at short notice. For next time I am going to ensure I have plenty of spare cards on standby.
We also did not have any headphone splitters so they had to pass around the headphones to hear the results. This was again a bit challenging in the large groups, but where there were groups of three or less it actually worked really well as the students were discussing what they were typing then listening to the results in turn. This promoted more active group working and lots of discussion about what do add to their programs. We are intending to purchase some of the splitters to enable a 1:1 headphone assignment, but I may be using these only after I have the groups working well or remove them if I find that the wearing of headphones is reducing this productive interaction.
I was really pleased that all of the groups produced reasonable credible music products during the sessions. There were even some groups who were moving ahead so I had them experimenting with threading. Overall the day was really successful in getting students to be creative and engaging them in learning some computer science.
Gender Bias
I was interested to see that during the sessions there was no noticeable gender split in the engagement of pupils. The girls and boys seemed to be equally engaged in creating music, where in previous sessions (robotics based) there was a noticable split with more boys being engaged than girls. I am unsure if this was solely because of the nature of the activity or other factors (e.g. in a different school, age of the pupils). It will be interesting to see if this is the same when we implement this as part of our standard curriculum next year.Other options and resources
I had a bit of a short lead time to deliver the session so didn't have any time for additional research so I used the Session that Dr Sam Aaron delivered at Picademy as my main inspiration. However I have since discovered that there is now a Sonic Pi taster activity on the Raspberry Pi website. This provides a fairly good introduction that I could have used.I did use v2.0 for these session but you could do very a similar type of session with the current release (or you could download the latest release candidate of v2.0).
The full Sonic Pi scheme of work is available on the Raspberry Pi website and you could use the first lesson from that scheme as an alternative (the scheme is currently written for Sonic PI v1 but will be updated once v2.0 is fully released).
For support with Sonic Pi Dr Sam Aaron has a dedicated Sonic Pi Google+ group. There is also the Sonic Pi website for more information. The Raspberry Pi official forums are also a great resource for support from the community. They even have a dedicated education section.
Wednesday 18 June 2014
Picademy
Two days of CPD is enough to fill most teachers with dread but the Raspberry Pi Foundation is changing all that with its Picademy. Two days of Raspberry Pi training focussed around using the device to it's full potential in the classroom.
In April the first Picademy was a great success and the feedback from educators on twitter caught my attention. If you read my first post on this (somewhat neglected) blog you will be aware I had been doing some research into the use of the Raspberry Pi in classrooms. This led me to look for more engaging ways of teaching computing where I could utilise the Pi to it's full extent. I wanted to avoid the replace PowerPoint with Scratch on Raspbery Pi approach and create engaging projects for my students.
So where could I go to engage with others and get some inspiration. it was then that #picademy started to appear on twitter. Brilliant, how do I get to go along thought I. Unfortunately the first dates fell over the Easter break and we already had plans. However a series of fortunate events led to a place on the second run. A hastily booked train and hotel later I was off to Cambridge.
We all arrived at Pi Towers not quite knowing what to expect but with high expectations based on what we had seen from the first event. We were not to be disappointed. After a few housekeeping points we were straight into a day packed full of workshops covering a wide range of activities we could use with students in our classrooms. This included Sonic Pi with Sam Aaron, GPIO with Clive Beale, Minecraft Pi with Craig Richardson and Pi Cam with Ben Nuttall. There were also sessions on the use of Pi in the classroom using VNC, GitHub and the Raspberry Pi Community. All of the session were led by enthusiastic experts and the content had been backed up with real life experience in classrooms.
These sessions gave a great overview of the varied ways the Pi can be used to engage and enthuse students. I was particularly impressed by the range of ways the Pi can be used to promote the creativity of students.
After a busy day training our minds still buzzing with new information we headed out for the evening meal. This was an amazing opportunity to discuss ideas and network with the other attendees. There were also most of the Pi Towers team on hand to quiz further; how many training providers do you know who are still answering questions at 2130?
After a busy day training our minds still buzzing with new information we headed out for the evening meal. This was an amazing opportunity to discuss ideas and network with the other attendees. There were also most of the Pi Towers team on hand to quiz further; how many training providers do you know who are still answering questions at 2130?
The second day started with some inspiring sessions from Eben Upton, Rachel Raynes and Lance Howarth. A reminder of why the Pi was created and more on creativity.
It was then our turn to get creative in the 'unconference'. The idea being to put to use the inspiration from the first day to practice our skill, create new resources and solve issue we had encountered. In small groups we were able to consolidate what we had seen and further develop our ideas. Some groups worked on teaching resources and others on areas of interest.
Our group worked on a few ideas until we settled on the idea of a quiz bear. This initially involved doing unspeakable things to Babbage to embed the Pi inside with an LED smile and buttons in his ears. Fortunately for Babbage, time was short so a plastic cup made a more easily modified host. We developed the idea to create the idea of a modular scheme of work for Technology and Computing. The main idea being to create the basic elements using recipe cards and combine them together. This would get progressively more complicated and open ended (I will post more about this once we have more to share).
After feverishly working in our groups we all came back together to share what we had produced. Each group or individual shared what they had worked on and/or produced. This ranged from personal development consolidating the skills to imaginative products and schemes of work. One of my favourites was the Micheal Jackson Tribute Glove (#MJTG). This was a development of a previous project by one of the group members and produced a dancing animated MJ on screen controlled by the hand of Dan Aldred.
After all the sharing we gathered for a presentation of the very shiny Raspberry Pi 'Certified Educator badges'. The course was over but we were all still buzzing; in fact my group continued work on the train home, putting together a plan of action to complete our scheme of work.
This was without doubt the best CPD event that I have attended as a teacher but better than that it has opened my eyes to more of the creative possibilities. I have been a firm advocate of not using technology just for the point of using it and had started work to find ways to really utilise the Pi. Picademy has really helped to firm up this approach in my mind and has really shown me how much value the Raspberry Pi has as a tool to engage students and get them being creative in the classroom.
Much has been made of training the next generation of computer scientists, but without engaging curiosity and promoting creativity then we will only be producing a generation of robotic programmers with no love for the subject. Hopefully #picademy and the Raspberry Pi Certified Educators it has produced will be able to help the Foundation to provide that creativity and inspiration.
Thursday 20 February 2014
Raspberry Why?
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(1)
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I have heard lots anecdotally about the use of Raspberry Pi in schools and there has been some talk about them “gathering dust in school cupboards”(2). and questioning along the lines of “Do UK schools really need the Raspberry Pi?”(3). In my own experience I have seen schools use them to “do programming” where they could be best to use the suite of 30 PCs they already have.
This forced use of technology for the sake of it is neither what the Raspberry Pi was intended for or based on good pedagogy. Eben Upton stated that the idea of starting the Raspberry Pi project was to get more children programming, but this is not how it will happen.
His vision was a playground for the children to experiment and even likens the Pi to a child's bike (compared to the family car that is the PC) the Pi is “owned by the child” and “if they break it it's not a disaster, they can walk”.(4) This ownership and experimentation is not the case in a classroom of Pis attached to PCs used to do “some programming”. All this is doing is making it take a little longer to get to the programming bit that they could do more quickly and easily by using the PC they are attached to.
This forced usage comes from a well meaning desire to give pupils some exposure to a device that has become a must have in computing education. It is a very admirable thing to be able to expose the young people in our care to a range of different devices, but we should understand fully what we are trying to do with them before running out and buying a class set.
This approach seems very common in education and it it is what has led me to create this blog. We see new technology and then try and find a use for it in the classroom. Some of these technologies would be much better not used at all when they are implemented in this way (how many interactive whiteboards in secondary schools are actually used interactively?).
For the Raspberry Pi, a device that was designed to engage and interest students in computing is in danger of becoming a tool to do the opposite.(5) Without using these devices to fulfil their potential we are doing our pupils (and the devices) a disservice. we have been presented with an amazing tool and we are wasting it because of a lack of imagination or lack of flexibility in the way we manage the learning process.
We should be using these Pi to enable experimentation and self led learning. It should be a tool that allows the students to answer for themselves the “what happens if I...” questions we get asked about computers all of the time. It gives us a platform where students can try things out. They can break things and no one is going to come shouting.
“If Something goes wrong it’s no big deal - you just swap out a new SD card, and your Raspberry Pi is factory-new again” (6)
Where the Pi will add most value is where students are able to set the agenda and pursue projects that interest them. A great example of this is Amy Mather(7) who got interested in the Pi and programming after attending events outside of school. She became interested in Conway's Game of Life and programmed a version on her Pi. She went through several versions and eventually added on an external LED display. If we can create an environment in our classrooms that will encourage this kind of exploration then we will be doing things right.
The Pi was not designed as a tool to sit in rows in a classroom with. but that doesn't mean we can’t use it effectively in a school. We just need to change our approach. I also recognise that we cannot completely change the paradigm within which we operate.
To move to a more productive usage of these devices we need to find ways to help teachers bridge the gap. There are several schemes that aim to do this. One successful scheme is Sonic Pi developed by Dr Sam Aaron. Sonic Pi is an open source programming environment designed to explore and teach programming concepts through the process of creating new sounds.(8) The software comes with a scheme of work that was jointly developed with Carrie Anne Philbin (Teacher, Author (9) and founder of Geek Gurl Diaries) . The Scheme of work is designed around the new Computing PoS and teaches programming concepts in an interesting and engaging way. As an introduction to the Pi it gives students a good grounding on some key programming concepts.
If we can take this sort of scheme as a start point then find ways to allow students to experiment with less directed projects then I think we are getting closer to utilising this tool to it’s potential. Where people have allowed this experimentation in schools (mostly as extra curricular activity) there have been some amazing projects. Students have created robots, wearable devices and even sent their creations into space (well nearly).(10)
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(11)
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For me the ultimate utilisation of the PI would be some form of introduction and then cross curricular projects where students can be creative and make things for themselves. It would be even better if students had ownership of the devices and products. We should aim to create a space where students contribute ideas and expertise to their peers, where we could guide and direct rather than dictate we will be able to help to foster pupils natural enthusiasm. We should aim to create mini Raspberry Jams in our classrooms.(12)
This approach also meet the demands of the National curriculum, the Computing PoS explicitly mentions undertaking creative projects using a range of devices.(13)
As we are limited in our time and resources we need to think about what we can do to make the devices more classroom friendly. There are lots of products available aimed to help us to do this. Teachers worried about the robustness of the devices can find a myriad of cases designed for the Pi. My particular favourite is the Pimoroni Pibow it’s robust construction is ideal for school use. It even comes in a range of colours from Rainbow to Ninja. I especially like the fact that it does not hide the Pi away inside an opaque box.
Where we are limited by time we need to look at premade kits to add on to the PI to allow the physical computing elements to be created quickly Products such as Buzz box are the start of these but there is still work to be done. The system allows consists of modules that can be linked together to create a diverse range of products.(14) This modular approach means that devices ranging from a simple calculator to a Robot of physiological monitoring device can be built. These ready made plug and play additions can reduce the time it takes to put together a working prototype, allowing pupils interest to be maintained in the early stages of a project where failure or limited activities can be demotivating.(15)
We don't need to rely on commercial suppliers we can add some structure to give students a little direction. Provide our own kit of parts that they can experiment with until they are ready to fully strike out on their own. We can also look to our colleagues in technology to see how they approach creative "maker" style projects, they have been doing this for years. We should look at what they do best and steal it for use in our classrooms. Even better if we can work with them to collaborate on work building student led projects.
Educational suppliers are beginning to catch on to this approach and when visiting the BETT show I found a supplier already offering Raspberry Pi Project kits for use in the classroom. The kits range from breadboards and components to kits with units of work. As more teachers take this approach the range of equipment available to support us will also increase making it an easier path to follow.
I think the Raspberry Pi is an awesome piece of hardware. It is already really great used in the hobbyist context where personal interests are pursued. I think it will also be great in the classroom one we get over the “wonder device” stage where every school has got to have them without a lot of thought on why. We should be looking to see what new technologies can offer educationally rather than looking for places to shoehorn them into lessons just for the sake of it.
References:
(2) Shona Ghosh. "Raspberry Pi "gathering dust" in schools | Education | News | PC Pro." 2014. 15 Jan. 2014 <http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/education/386302/raspberry-pi-gathering-dust-in-schools>
(3) "Bash Street bytes: Do UK schools really need the Raspberry Pi ..." 2012. 15 Jan. 2014 <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/27/feature_raspberry_pi_in_schools/>
(4) "Bash Street bytes: Do UK schools really need the Raspberry Pi ..." 2012. 15 Jan. 2014 <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/27/feature_raspberry_pi_in_schools/>
(6) Upton, Eben, and Gareth Halfacree. Meet the Raspberry Pi. Wiley. com, 2012.
(7) "Raspberry Jamboree 2013: Amy Mather - Conway's ... - YouTube." 2013. 15 Jan. 2014 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a35XINnYFtA>
(9) "Adventures in Raspberry Pi: Amazon.co.uk: Carrie Anne Philbin ..." 2013. 18 Jan. 2014 <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventures-Raspberry-Carrie-Anne-Philbin/dp/1118751256>
(10) "High Altitude Ballooning, sixth-form style | Raspberry Pi." 2013. 16 Jan. 2014 <http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/4390>
(12) "#RaspberryJam | the global community of events for enthusiasts of ..." 2012. 16 Jan. 2014 <http://raspberryjam.org.uk/>
(13) "National curriculum in England: computing programmes of ... - Gov.UK." 2013. 16 Jan. 2014 <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study>
(14) Callaghana, Vic et al. "Putting the Buzz Back into Computer Science Education." Workshop Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Intelligent Environments 26 Jul. 2013: 454.
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