Teaching Electronics to Kids

[anilkunchalaece]

Hi all,

I am thinking of Preparing a Curriculum for kids to Teach the Electronics..

I am taking about the Ones Who never been Exposed to the Computer earlier..

we are going to teach them about the basics of Computer and Programming languages first using Raspberry Pi...

After that I am thinking of Introducing them the Basic Electronics.. using Arduino

So..

1. What is the Best way to Start ?
         a) start with Blinking Led  or

          b) say some theory about resistors and Diodes then go to the Blinking ?

2. Is it Ok to Stick to the Only Doing and not explaining them how it is Happening actually?

3. I think Teaching them Theory at that level is too much Information.. What do you say?
                           
               any References to the learning electronics in a Easy way is Very Helpful and all the Comments and Suggestions are Appreciated..

[terryking228]

Hi,  Take a look at what is available on the ArduinoInfo.Info WIKI HERE:

How-To example  HERE:

Feel free to email me to discuss this...

terry@yourduino.com


DISCLAIMER: Mentioned stuff from my own shop...

[anilkunchalaece]

Hi,

Thanks for the Reply...

Presently I am trying find a way to introduce basic components and I,V to them.. without more technical terms..

Do you think Telling about Arduino directly without all these things is Good way to Go?

[terryking228]

Hi,
Let's continue the discussion.

I think that explaining basic electricity / electronics is important.  It goes well with the Arduino and it explains why LEDs need resistors, and how to calculate that.

Arduino is very good for teaching voltage dividers, series/parallel resistors etc.

Arduino can graph R/C waveforms etc.

There is work to be done to make a good tutorial including these things. I would be happy to discuss this and help out.

Here's a little start to work with:



See the page  HERE:


Let me know what you think. 

Anyone else interested in pursuing this??

[ghudson621]

I think you could go for some theory on diode and resistors before you teach about LEDs. So that they would have a basic knowledge on how it operates  

[anilkunchalaece]

I think that explaining basic electricity / electronics is important.  It goes well with the Arduino and it explains why LEDs need resistors, and how to calculate that.

Hi.. Sorry for Late Reply.. i didn't have a access to internet for quite a while.

So.
If we are Going to explaining them LED On and Off as a First Experiment..

Is it better to Do the task first without knowing anything or
Teach them What is Atom, Electrons, Potential..etc..etc to Ohms law..

I think its gonna be a Too much Theory.. Or any Specific Topics (?) Which are Sufficient.

Btw.. Thanks for Showing Intrest

[EmilyColes]

Its always a difficult task to teach anyone because we have to bring up with some write my essay for me instantly new plans and some other things through which we can overcome that thing and we don't know exactly the thing of it.

[PaulMurrayCbr]

Do these kids already know about electicity? Positive and negative? Amps and Volts?

Where on *earth* are there kids who literally have "never been exposed to a computer"? Anyone genuinely benighted as that, I would imagine that hacking Arduinos is way down on the list of priorities.

[anilkunchalaece]

Do these kids already know about electicity? Positive and negative? Amps and Volts?

No

Where on *earth* are there kids who literally have "never been exposed to a computer"?

There are thousands of kids who never saw a computer until they completed higher education ( I can show them on villages in India).
I myself never know how to operate one until I reached graduation.
And there are many schools still didn't have computer lab (?).

I would imagine that hacking Arduinos is way down on the list of priorities.

Iam totally I agree with that..
But I didn't want them to build cool stuff with it, but it should a medium to teach programming to them and also expose them to the world of computers and electronics.

[PaulMurrayCbr]

But I didn't want them to build cool stuff with it, but it should a medium to teach programming to them and also expose them to the world of computers and electronics.

Hmm. There are some credit-card microcontroller things being produced specifically as a teaching tool. I'd be very surprised if there weren't already curricula developed for them.

But to program anything, you need something to compile and upload your sketches from - you need a laptop anyway. Personally, I have thought for a while that if you want to teach programming, Javascript is where to start. Unlike Arduino hacking it's commercially useful right from the get-go. Microcontrollers are a niche.

[terryking228]

Hi,

But to program anything, you need something to compile and upload your sketches from - you need a laptop anyway.

YES, But...  There is another possibility:

I am working on a Arduino Kit that has 6 or 8 "Lessons" using various sensors and actuators that has the Arduino (our YourDuino RoboRED) pre-programmed with 8 options that are selected with 3 jumpers.  The kit can run on a student's desk with only a 9V 1 amp power supply (adds $2 to the cost) or a battery case with 6 AA batteries. It starts with a multipurpose shield plugged into the RoboRED that looks like this:



The next level has the student attach external cables and devices like servomotors and pushbuttons and a breadboard, to become familiar with this type of hardware. It also has an IR remote that can control some functions.

After that level of learning, the Arduino and sensors/actuators can be use WITH a computer to start to learn the Arduino IDE environment and Arduino programming.

it should a medium to teach programming to them and also expose them to the world of computers and electronics.

If anyone working with kids would like to discuss this let me know and I will put more information here. It's still in development.  We are calling the kit "My Smart Arduino"..

[anilkunchalaece]

If anyone working with kids would like to discuss this let me know and I will put more information here.

I am Not Working with Kids.. But i like to know More information about it.

It's still in development.  We are calling the kit "My Smart Arduino"..

i am interested to contribute is there anyway i can help ?

[terryking228]

Hello Anil,

Please tell me more about what you are doing with Arduino.  What things are you interested in learning about?

What is your background or experience with electronics?

Where are you located??

If you are interested in working on this project we might be able to collaborate.

You can email me: terry@yourduino.com

[knut_ny]

They all have acellphone /pad ?

Start with coding in  pocketcode.  Freeware app.
Learn math and codeing.

edit:
Link to pocketcode

[terryking228]

pocketcode

A LINK would be helpful.....