Code Club and the Raspberry Pi Foundation join forces

[Matthew Trojanovich]

I just read this recent post from the code club blog:

http://blog.codeclub.org.uk/2015/11/03/code-club-and-the-raspberry-pi-foundation-join-forces/

Is this an appropriate forum to ask what might be the outcome of such a union?

For my part, after having run the Code Club at my local school for a year+, I thought I'd branch out and try Raspi with the kids starting with this most recent term.

So far it's going reasonably well.  It seems to be holding the interest of my 16 9 and 10 year olds.

I thought I'd share a few notes on how it's going.

+the kids are enjoying the entree into the world of hardware (though I do think the Microbits would be an even better alternative and am eager waiting for more news in 2016 on those...)

+ring-fencing the students in the raspi environment means fewer worries about kids cheekily playing friv instead of focusing on learning

+exposure to the command line. Maybe I'm an old timer, but I feel as though this is an important part of the computer experience. It certainly is a good prep for coding and python in which typing is needed.

+I'm still able to lead Scratch sessions, though only on the desktop version.

+for some kids, Computational Thinking isn't a hook for them so much as "gadgets and tinkering".  Raspi/Hardware gives them the latter.  I'm fine with that.

+i'm slowly introducing the students to Python, but through the wonders of Minecraft and Minecraft scripting. I credit this with keeping my attendance up.

-hardware setup.  It took me three weeks and a hit to my wallet (had to purchase HDMI to VGA adaptors myself), but we're now operating smoothly.  This was a major challenge.

-I prefer the online version of Scratch. The only version that performs properly on the Pi is the desktop version.  This is a minor point.

-the lessons I've chosen (some scratch and a majority of minecraft) tend to be more free-form, so I may be trading a bit of computational thinking for "cool factor".

-the kids are going to want to keep the Raspis when we're done. This will probably end up putting pressure on the parents to buy one.

-it's more difficult to assess which students are thriving. With a Scratch (or code.org or codecademy) curriculum I could more easily tell who needed more help.

-the learning curve few new students steeper. If I didn't have Minecraft, I think I would have lost many students who would prefer to do self-study Scratch work

-things regularly fail with hardware, so the learning curve is also steeper for the leader (me). I now keep extra USB cables and SC cards on me at all times!

Regards,
Matthew

[Chris Kimpton]

Thanks for sharing Matthew.

Hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions...

What kind of hardware setup do you have - Raspi with VGA monitor?  Coding directly on the Pi?  Did you preload the Pi with something or was that done in class?

As you say, I hope Code Club are still going to get some microbits - that was quicker to get started with.

Cheers,

Chris

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SouthEastEnglandCodeClub" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to southeastenglandco...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to southeasteng...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/southeastenglandcodeclub/f0cec89c-7137-4c07-bc33-552ab8bff364%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Matthew Trojanovich]

On Wednesday, 18 November 2015 19:43:48 UTC, Chris Kimpton wrote:

Thanks for sharing Matthew.

Hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions...

By all means. 

What kind of hardware setup do you have - Raspi with VGA monitor?  Coding directly on the Pi?  Did you preload the Pi with something or was that done in class?

We're reusing the existing monitors in the ICT suite (yes, we unplug them every week - another good lesson for the kids:  many didn't know "lefty loosey, righty tighty" for example).

Unfortunately those monitors are all VGA so I had to purchase the adaptors.  In bulk from alibaba made it such that they were cheap (GBP 3/ea), otherwise, they're rather costly (GBP ~9).

We're coding directly on the Pi:

* i didn't pre-load anything above and beyond NOOBS:  it now comes with minecraft already included, among other nice goodies (sonicpi, scratch, idle2, idle3, java!)

* they review and hack minecraft scripts.  I'm indebted to MattHawkinsUK for resources like  

http://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2014/06/building-a-castle-in-minecraft-with-python/

(wget https://bitbucket.org/MattHawkinsUK/rpispy-misc/raw/master/minecraft/castle.py)

http://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2014/01/berry-bookies-a-horse-racing-game-for-the-berryclip/

(wget https://bitbucket.org/MattHawkinsUK/rpispy-berryclip/raw/master/berry_bookies/berry_bookies.py)

* they examine the code used in ./python_games  - the kids make copies and then, carefully, make mods.  They're -just- starting this part.

As you say, I hope Code Club are still going to get some microbits - that was quicker to get started with.

The berryclip example above requires soldering a small PCB - it's my stand-in for the microbits but even 10 welds is not the easiest thing to coordinate.  I'll probably end up soldering most of the kits myself :)

 

Cheers,

Chris

[Chris Kimpton]

Thanks again Matthew

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to southeastenglandco...@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to southeasteng...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/southeastenglandcodeclub/c6f17aca-a904-4cb5-81ff-5d2bf86df9c7%40googlegroups.com.