I am considering starting a local "elementary" class in electronic circuits (simple low voltage DC, our favorite here). Has anyone had any experience with this?
I am thinking of integrating Arduino in the Forrest Mimms Intro to electronics and then working through the two books available regarding the electronics learning lab - with, of course, the lab itself.
Target audience are boys 8 and up - but it would start small with some friends children to see how they take to the idea.
Has anyone had any experience in this, any support materials available, and are there Arduino specific programs that any of you have worked through with similar audiences?
Maybe you want to take some of my blinkenlight experiments for your class. Hardware requirements are very low and the difficulty range is from easy to advanced. You do not need the shields you could also create the setup with breadboards. However you could also use the kits which are cheaper and do some SMD soldering practice. However I have no clue if soldering is fine with 8 year old boys. I learned it at the age of 12 SMD soldering should be easier for them then for us because they have most probably much sharper eye sight.
Hi, lots of INFO and Educational Materials on the ARDUINO INFO wiki here - http:/arduinoinfo.info
This link: http://arduino-info.wikispaces.com/StarterSetMenu has How-To and Educational information for specific Starter Sets. A $32 Starter Set with Arduino-Compatible board with built-in 3-pin connectors, cables, breadboard, components, servo etc. is here: http://goo.gl/dfq8l
In a classroom environment, starting off 5 or 10 students connecting things on breadboards can be difficult and frustrating as lots of time is spent finding and correcting connection problems. Direct cable plug-in of a variety of input and output devices like these "Electronic Bricks" is used by several schools and Universities: http://arduino-info.wikispaces.com/ElectronicBrickStarterSet
Ask for Educational discounts on whatever you use!