What's your opinion on spending $50 on your kids education?

Terry,

Thank you for the wonderful input. I'll be working on making materials to teach high school teachers. Hope someone will give us money to do it. I have some students that are going for practice teaching soon. Hope to make a connection to local schools. These days are very different from the old days, where teachers made their own teaching equipment and demonstrations. Now you go and buy off a catalog and don't get to know what's inside those neat little boxes, plus kids get some many neat little tech toys and they don't feel excited seeing some tech stuff as they were (maybe just me myself). I think Arduino will change the game. If a teacher shows how to use an accelerometer to measure acceleration of an amusement ride, he/she may bring kids interest back to STEM.

To think about how STEM has been treated in the US, I used the current status of STEM in the US to explain how transistor conducts, kind of sad. I want to change it, although I'm just a foreigner in the country.

John, Let's continue some conversation about teaching Teachers and Parents how to enable young people to encounter Arduino, STEM and technology in general in a positive way. Any other opinions, anyone??

What country are you originally from? Many of us are from "All Over" in this era and that's a good thing.

I have friends from "all Over" so there is no part of the World where I can see bad things happening and say "I don't care"!

A mobile music platform only distracts the user and damage their hearings.

On the whole I have to agree but I think when students get to the age where they might want to be motivated by arduino, I would suggest that there are many who would understand the benefits of music. I personally listen to music quite a lot (obviously not at the volume level many kids listen to it at) but it can really make a difference in how you feel/how productive you are. So music in moderation (whether a portable device or not) can have major benefits.

On another note, I saw an elderly lady on a bus I was travelling on the other day listening to an ipod. You could tell she was happy listening to whatever it was and it was improving her mood. Travelling around on buses by yourself doesn't normally do good things to people's moods.

One other thing I thought of... Who's going to help the absolute beginner ?

One can of course ask questions on this forum, I must say support in general is great,
but answers can sometimes also be a little intimidating...

I would change some of the items, and the prices are a bit off.
1 new video game = $60
1 month of cable TV = $50

mp3 players aren't positive or negative, everybody listens to music on the car radio
I would also leave books out in order to make a stronger argument.

If I were writing a letter to parents I would explain all about how amazing microcontrollers are and what can be done with them. Then explain how cheap these are compared to 10 years ago, and make the price comparisons at the end.

John, Let's continue some conversation about teaching Teachers and Parents how to enable young people to encounter Arduino, STEM and technology in general in a positive way. Any other opinions, anyone??

Hi Terry,

I too am interested in this subject. I come from Singapore, and there isn't much of a culture of tinkering here. So while there are trained engineers etc who are comfortable with handling circuit boards etc, most people are quite intimidated by exposed electronics parts. I don't know if this is the same in other parts of the world ?

My impression is that this intimidation factor is the single biggest obstacle to learning electronics. My first encounter with electronics was with circuit diagrams and current and resistor value calculations. This can be daunting to all but the most determined student. For me, I found it so dry and simply just could not go on and left it for about a decade. It was only when I discovered the wonderful world of Arduino 4 months ago that I really got my hands dirty. And this comes to a person who I think is reasonably technically inclined (I am an architect. No, not the software kind, the bricks and mortar kind).

I got into Arduino because I wanted to build my own home automation system. Now that I have gotten the backbone of my HA system running, I have come to think that it would be an excellent educational tool. This is because simple functions can easily be broken down and demonstrated.

My thoughts is that to remove the intimidation factor, a lesson plan can move from the outside in; meaning the teacher can demonstrate the function (eg. using relay to switch off light), then peel back the skin and reveal the electronics working (eg. remove the relay and show the circuit doesnt work anymore). Later tweaking the programming can be demonstrated, and students introduced to the programming environment / IDE. Lastly circuit can be rebuilt on a circuit board, and students challenged with some creation of their own.

What do you ( and any other reader ) think ?

Keff in Sg

Simpson_Jr:
One other thing I thought of... Who's going to help the absolute beginner ?

One can of course ask questions on this forum, I must say support in general is great,
but answers can sometimes also be a little intimidating...

This is exactly what I am trying to figure out! Some attempts at http://yourduino.com

But that's an online environment, and even though young people are comfortable there it doesn't work for everyone.

One new fantasy of mine is a publication for Parents or Mentors or Teachers which shows how to start DOing things with Arduino, and encouraging young people to get involved. "Hey, look at what this does! How do you think this works? How could you make it do something different? "

Later let the kid take over 'your Arduino'... :slight_smile:

John, I'm glad you started this discussion!

mowcius:

A mobile music platform only distracts the user and damage their hearings.

On the whole I have to agree but I think when students get to the age where they might want to be motivated by arduino, I would suggest that there are many who would understand the benefits of music. I personally listen to music quite a lot (obviously not at the volume level many kids listen to it at) but it can really make a difference in how you feel/how productive you are. So music in moderation (whether a portable device or not) can have major benefits.

On another note, I saw an elderly lady on a bus I was travelling on the other day listening to an ipod. You could tell she was happy listening to whatever it was and it was improving her mood. Travelling around on buses by yourself doesn't normally do good things to people's moods.

Thanks mowcius! That's good point. I agree. Just last Friday I used an old MP3 player, an npn transistor, and a few spare parts, made an old-school boom-box (not very boom-ie no box either). Just in time for my Electronics class lab on npn common-emitter circuit.

I think if I say arduino + mp3 or arduino + game device (maybe wii controller) = much more awesome maybe someone will buy my argument.

Simpson_Jr:
One other thing I thought of... Who's going to help the absolute beginner ?

One can of course ask questions on this forum, I must say support in general is great,
but answers can sometimes also be a little intimidating...

Yes yes. But imagine asking a stranger questions and expect getting help. I still prefer asking here :slight_smile:
I'm trying to train teachers (high school) so they themselves are not absolute beginners but their students ARE! I'm training the teachers since I'm not certified to train kids, nor do I have the skills! Kudos to high school teachers! It's difficult job and doesn't pay much. I'm hoping with arduino they can do their jobs better, and kids enjoy more.

Big oil, I like your point of just comparing prices without necessarily pointing fingers. Thank you.

cr0sh,

I bet your parents were very good parents. I also owe mine a lot. My dad was a professor in electron science but he didn't really teach me electronics. We didn't spend much time together because he spent countless time in his lab. The first time I felt interest in electronics was right after I finished a gruesome task of teaching 3xx-level electronics for physics majors. It seems that physicists don't like to either teach or do electronics. When anything gets too practical, it's out the physics door. I owe partly of my employment to saying "oh yes, I am certainly willing to teach electronics" during interview :grin:

Keff, I was intimidated by bare electronics parts as well, also the mentioning of designing PCB, or manufacturing hundreds of them. But all those were history now.

I think what helped me are three things: I have some money to buy parts (wouldn't work if I were half my age), I stumbled into the Arduino world with such a lively and helpful online community, my background in programming. As a physics major like most other physics majors, I only took one class in electronics in my junior year and that was it. Even after I taught the class, I still wasn't very interested in it. Until one time I came up with an idea that will be a teaching equipment. I used all my knowledge and couldn't figure out how to make it work. A very haphazard chance made me meet an artist, artist everyone! He was using arduino and he showed me what he did with arduino. After that I read about arduino and made the purchase. Eventually I made that teaching design work. It's not very good-looking but it's showed me the potential of arduino. I've been a fan since that time (around 2009). With my programming background, all I needed are ideas and time. The rest was just hard labor :slight_smile:

So looks like many are interested in this topic. We should certainly chat often on this board. I think I've got like 1000% what I was expecting when I started this post XD XD XD Thanks to you all!

I like this idea. I use Arduino in my high school electronics course. I think it's a great way to introduce kids to programming and electronics. For the price it's hard to beat. My favorite part is watching the excitement in the beginning as students discover how to light up and sequence multiple LEDs. I love my job!

You can check my stuff out at http://electronics.flosscience.com

If you're so inclined you can also support my efforts to fund a teacher crated Arduino based high school textbook at:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1713741390/arduino-in-education

Steve Dickie
Divine Child High School

Terry,

if parents start "doing stuff for their kids", not a lot good will come from it. Kids aren't stupid. Parents need to things for themselves and only then let the kids participate. That's the case with music, with sports, with cooking, with video games, with fashion and clothing, and also all other kind of tinkering from sewing, jewel crafting to electronics and computers. So to get children involved, get the parents involved first.

In the end, being able to deliver useful results even for beginners (adults) matters most. And to deliver useful results there needs to be a problem to be solved. Remember the classic entry into electronics? Build your own AM radio receiver or your own Tesla coils for sparks - something useful. Or why else are some many people coming from other occupations like model vehicles, car tinkering, electronic music, robotics, home gadgetry to the Arduino and so little people start out with the Arduino directly?

If you want to bring people to the Arduino, look for people with occupations who could use them, show them how it can work for their hobby. That will get them hooked. And once you have them with the Arduino, they can then be goaded in the direction of programming or electronics. Don't start them directly on programming or electronics, those are rather forbidding domains where so many things can go wrong and simple looking problems become very complicated and frustrating fast.

Korman

Korman:
...
If you want to bring people to the Arduino, look for people with occupations who could use them, show them how it can work for their hobby. That will get them hooked. And once you have them with the Arduino, they can then be goaded in the direction of programming or electronics. Don't start them directly on programming or electronics, those are rather forbidding domains where so many things can go wrong and simple looking problems become very complicated and frustrating fast.
Korman

Thanks, Korman... Very good point. I guess I was assuming that many people came to Arduino because "They got interested". But HOW?? Hmmm...

I think that often young people get interested in something by watching an adult or someone else doing it and enjoying it or "doing something cool"..

But you're right that Arduino is not an end to itself, and should be promoted more as an enabler and a tool.

I came to the Arduino because I was asked by a friend to look at the programming for some gimmicks he wanted for model aircrafts. If you look at starting posts in the "Project Guidance" section, most start with:

I want to control my turbine car/aquarium/camera/projector/light gimmick/servos/garden/hydroponics/steel mill ...

  • or -
    I have seen a cool watch/PoV/robot/rocket launcher/blinking jacket / sensors inputs I want to recreate
  • or -
    I bought/inherited/found a description of a thing that works mostly, I just want to ...

And then they go on that they think the Arduino is the choice and how to get started with the tutorials, code fragments and circuit droppings they found on the Internet to make it happen. They don't really care about the Arduino itself, it just looks like the easiest way to get what they want.

The really great thing about the Arduino community isn't the the quality of information available, it's that in the beginner forums people get answers how to move closer to their goal. People get the feeling, that they aren't left alone utterly confused and bewildered.

To come back how to get people, specially children involved, is to do things with them they care about. And if those things need some microprocessor control to become better, you have your opening for the Arduino. It really doesn't matter what it is.

Korman

I agree, lots of people wanted to use arduino simply because they saw other people do cool things with stuff, and they were told arduino was involved. If they want to do those cool things themselves, they find themselves in the project guidance section. Later if they have success (the community factors a lot in their success), they start to think about arduino as a tool like a screw driver, or a car. They will start looking for projects they can use a screw driver for or places they can go on a car. That is the real fun. A person always looking forward for an adventure with electronics and mechanics can have a lot of fun.

I've been around here for 2 1/2 years now and have been amazed by how many different objectives the arduino can fill for users. There are experienced software types that have little or no electronics experience and just want to use the arduino to learn electronics. I've also seen experienced hardware types that want to use the arduino platform to learn software programming effectively. And as already posted some come here just to learn how to utilize an arduino to further their specific project goals.

Bottom line is the Arduino fills many different needs for different kinds of users. However the support from this forum has a lot to do with people being successful with their objectives no matter what they are.

Lefty

One thing I've thought a lot about, but unfortunately have no answer to, how... could one persuade more girls to start experimenting with electronics/arduino ?

From a male perspective it's hard not think... female -> lillypad -> Leds on clothing, but there should be a lot more making them think "Hey, that's interesting !".

The most logical I often met while working with 4-12 year old kids were... in fact the ladies. They do tend to get mature much faster and maybe gentlemen get more capable in technical stuff on the long run, but there should still be a lot of girls who're more then capable enough to understand and work with an Arduino.

Anyone have any ideas on this one ?

I have not read the whole discussion, but I still am adding my 2 cents, hope thats ok.

What does this list represent? Its just your personal opinion, right? You state the things as if they where facts, and I find that irritating...

Also, there where times in my teens where my mp3 player was probably my most valued posession, my music really helped me threw some rough times. I believe napstar and beeing exposed to multitudes of music and ganres was not only good for my sould and overall well beeing, imo it was also educational and broadend my horizon.

I have been into computer games since quite an early age, they where not so much the reason, but more like a consequence of beeing interested in computers. However, I soon realized that, a)civ2 did not allways act the way I wanted it to, and that b) I could make it act the way I wanted to.

So it was computergames, and not Arduino that introduced me to hacking.

edit: I say stupid, not fully thought threw, things sometimes. I just saved you from one of them :slight_smile:

If you want to make some "advertising flyer" for your educational kit, you should back it up with facts, and not with what you believe the generell consensus to be...

But yeah, I guess people have probably said that already. I just really wanted to point out that looking back at my teenage years, music definitvly was a positive influence and in generall I think computergames and up on the positive spectrum with me as well.

Cheers

p.

fkeel,

Read the freaking posts if you wish to speak. You may have mixed me up with someone else selling arduino kits or something but your attitude is not appreciated. Not reading the posts and lashing out your opinions is a form of trolling. I'm not interested in your opinions to say the least. It's irrelevant.