Strategies & Tips --Microcontrollers For Educators

#sparkfun

Brian Huang@bri_huang

brian.huang@sparkfun.com

#sparkfun

http://bit.ly/SFE_edcamp14

“Teachers that make…make great teachers”- Anonymous

What will you makein your classroom?

Goals \ Objectives of Microcontrollers for Educators

1. ...implement a Maker-centric classroom built around project-based-learning (PBL).

2. ...understand basics behind electricity and circuits as well as how to teach these topics..

3. ...develop a general fluency and literacy with programming in Arduino, Processing, and Scratch.

4. ...develop a set of lesson plans, activities, and projects to use in our classroom integrating microcontrollers, programming, and electronics.

Pause…

Before we move any further, let’s make sure that we all know each other in this room?

Please introduce yourself to the person(s) sitting in your general vicinity. Tell them a few things about yourself, maybe:

– where you’re from– what you teach– why you’re here– what do you want to know more about?

Rough Outline

● Where do we start?● Circuits 101 -- Copper Tape, Multimeters,

and Ohm’s Law● STEAM focused integration -- collaborations● Programming -- a new literacy focus● Best Practices for the Maker Classroom...● Resources:

○ learn.sparkfun.com○ teachengineering.org○ teachers@arduino.cc forum

Google+ Community

http://bit.ly/micro4ed14

Microcontrollers For Educators Lesson Plans

Kindergarten Reflection

All I Really Need to Know (About Creative Thinking) I Learned (By

Studying How Children Learn) in Kindergarten*

This paper argues that the "kindergarten approach to learning" --

characterized by a spiraling cycle of Imagine, Create, Play, Share,

Reflect, and back to Imagine -- is ideally suited to the needs of the 21st

century, helping learners develop the creative-thinking skills that are

critical to success and satisfaction in today's society.

What was your reaction to the statements, claims, and suggestions in

this reading? How will this influence your teaching?

Where do we start?

Invent to Learn Resources

http://www.inventtolearn.com/resources/

Circuits 101 -- Copper Tape, Multimeters, and Ohm’s Law

What is a Circuit?

Circuit = CIRCLE

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/what-is-a-circuit/overview

What is a Circuit?

Circuit = CIRCLE

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/what-is-a-circuit/overview

VCC

GND

Circuit Simulation Toolswww.falstad.com/circuit

STEAM focused integration -- collaborations

Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy -- Light Sculpture

No Permission Required…Bringing STEAM to life in K-12 Schools

Program or be programmed...

http://processing.orgProcessing is a programming language, development environment, and online community.

Since 2001, Processing has promoted software literacy within the visual arts and visual literacy within technology. Initially created to serve as a software sketchbook and to teach computer programming fundamentals within a visual context, Processing evolved into a development tool for professionals.

Today, there are tens of thousands of students, artists, designers, researchers, and hobbyists who use Processing for learning, prototyping, and production.

Program or be programmed...

Scratch http://scratch.mit.edu/

Snaphttp://snap.berkeley.edu/

CargoBot (for iPad)

Pythonhttp://www.learnpython.org/

Logohttps://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/

Java / C / C++ / .NET

CS Unplugged

Prototyping / Design & Documentation

www.fritzing.org

Documentation -- Fritzing!!!

Thoughts \ Projects \ Ideas

What do you want to work on today? Is there someone here that you’d like to work with?

Are you stuck? Looking to work with someone today? Let’s find someone!

Think, Share, Reflect… What do you want to know more about?

Best Practices for Maker Classes

1. Get Organized -- Bins & Diagrams

Best Practices for Maker Classes

2. Charging Stations

Best Practices for Maker Classes

3. Label where everything goes

Best Practices for Maker Classes

4. Collaborate with others. Leverage the “art” of everything!

Best Practices for Maker Classes

5. Less Us, More Them (LUMT)

Best Practices for Maker Classes

What other ideas do we have???

Resources

Instructables

learn.sparkfun.com

teachengineering.org

Hints / Tips on using Fritzing

Hold down the SHIFT key