[Noisebridge-discuss] a little bit of info on the excel program, and an idea to move forward

[J.D. Zamfirescu-Pereira]

(Mitch: I'm very curious to hear about your experiences teaching  
microcontrollers in NYC! -- out of curiosity, which school was this?)

Lee and I spoke for a while after tonight's five minutes of fame at  
noisebridge and came up with something of a possible scheme that I'll  
outline here. We'd like to hear your thoughts and (obviously) are open  
to suggestions.


30,000 foot view:

Teaching kids blinkenlights with microcontrollers (arduinos?). 1 class  
per week, 1-2 hours per class, 10 kids (high school) per class, 1-2  
teachers per class. $3000 approximate cost for the year, with some  
equipment amortized over several years.

5 foot view:

Both Lee and I have been on somewhat of an Arduino kick lately, myself  
in large part because it's easy to learn (and thus teach). We were  
remarking on how kids seem to love blinking LEDs they can do stuff  
with, and thought that a class based on the Arduino with some sensors,  
LEDs, motors, etc. could potentially be a ton of fun for a high-school  
after-school program.

This got us to thinking: would it be crazy to purchase 4 Eee PCs, 4  
arduino boards, and assorted components and teach microcontrollers in  
a way that's somewhat self-directed? Set kids up with sample code that  
blinks a light using an arduino. Explain some of the basics. Get them  
to create their own blinking patterns, based on a graph, or based on  
sensor input, or what have you. Lee suggested maybe getting an LED to  
blink in a heartbeat pattern. Or coordinating multiple LEDs.

As kids want to do more complex things, the teachers would explain how  
to do those things. For this kind of interaction, we figured a high  
teacher:student ratio would be good, so we thought 2 teachers and 10  
students would be a good fit. (Students would pair- or 3-up on the Eee  
PC "stations".) That way, some groups could work while others got a  
question answered or saw a demo. For something of general interest,  
the whole group could be involved.

Running a "session" of about 10-12 weeks, this type of setup would  
lend itself to some continuity - kids could have projects that they  
work on from week to week - but we could also do one-off classes. For  
example, Mitch could do an excellent soldering lesson one week or  
something similar.

Some basic budgeting and we came up with a cost of about $3000/yr,  
from the following. (Question marks near the questionable stuff.)

4 Eee PCs: $250 x 4 = $1000
4 Arduinos + associated components, cables, etc: $50 x 4 = $250
25 (?) weeks of class per year, $100 (?) "teaching fee" per class:  
$2500.

Amortizing the Eee PCs and arduinos over 3 (?) years yields just under  
$3000 per year.

Thoughts? Are we crazy? Does this sound doable (and fun, of course!)  
to anyone else?

(Lee, chime in if I've forgotten or misrepresented anything!)

J.D.


On Apr 15, 2009, at 12:23 PM, Michael Shiloh wrote:

> Aha! I have just heard back from one of my friends who does in fact  
> use ExCEL at her school, and she is going to put me in touch with  
> the ExCEL coordinator at her school. I will hopefully talk to her  
> later today.
>
> She does say, though, "EXCL is notoriously underfunded,  
> underorganized, etc.". But we should determine for ourselves. The  
> proposal process should tell us a lot.
>
>
>
> Comments in line below. A big question I have to all of you:
>
> If this is a program that kids volunteer to be part of, I'm  
> interested in reaching those kids who don't give it a second thought.
>
> How do we reach them? My fantasy: we come do a demonstration or a  
> show or something where everyone is included. Then we ask the kids  
> "Who is interested in learning how to do this?". Everyone who raises  
> their hand is sent out (or perhaps sent off with our first teacher).  
> With everyone left we have a discussion, basically trying to figure  
> out what kind of things turn them on, what would they like to learn  
> how to make, or build, or create, or whatever.
>
> Perhaps video editing? or sound or audio recording? perhaps  
> electronic music? perhaps basic carpentry or model rockets or just  
> smashing computer monitors?
>
> One of the problems is that in high school it is cool to appear  
> bored by life and disinterested in everything. How do we get around  
> this?
>
> Mitch Altman wrote:
>>  Thanks for the first contact, Michael!
>>  I like your general outline of 6 weeks.  10 kids per class is  
>> nice, but maybe we'll have a better chance of acceptance if we  
>> teach more?  (That's a question.)
>
> Good question, and one which I asked my teacher friend just now.  
> Will let you know.
>
>
>
>
>
> I'd be most up for high school aged kids, myself,
>> since we can go more into things.  And if these classes are for  
>> people who volunteer themselves to be a part of, then I think we'll  
>> get some really interesting kids.  If we have a 6-week curriculum  
>> then we could do it twice per semester, if we like, plus once in  
>> the summer.
>
> Yes, I like this way of thinking.
>
>
>>  We could have 1 teacher per week (or a set of teachers), with that  
>> 1 teacher (or set of teachers) teaching 1 topic.  I don't think the  
>> topics need to be closely knitted together, but just fit under a  
>> general umbrella, such as "making cool things".  What do others  
>> think?  We should pick the number of days/times that each teacher  
>> (or set) will teach -- I think we need to have this consistent for  
>> all 6 weeks.
>
> Agree to all.
>
>
>>  I'd like to teach kids how to make cool things with  
>> microcontrollers.  I'll be doing this for a week at a high school  
>> in NYC for learning disability kids.  The administration put out  
>> the word to the whole school that this class was available,  
>> thinking that 20 to 30 kids would sign up for it -- but 118 did,  
>> which is half the school. (!)  In this case, I'm teaching 6  
>> individual 3-hour classes, where each kid goes to one of the 6  
>> classes, and everyone builds one of the 5 projects that I offered  
>> (TV-B-Gone kit, Mignonette Game kit, Brain Machine kit, Trippy RGB  
>> Waves kit, MiniPOV3 kit).  The school is buying all of the tools so  
>> that they will be able to teach this class without me in the  
>> future.  I'll see how this goes at the NYC high school.  Much of  
>> what I do there will be directly applicable for teaching for the  
>> ExCEL program.  Any comments/thoughts?
>
> Excellent. Look forward to your reports.
>
>>  I leave for 6 weeks of travel starting tomorrow morning.  I'll be  
>> checking my email every day, and I'll have my phone, if anyone  
>> wants to call for any reason:
>>     415-377-5993
>>  Cheers,
>> Mitch.
>>   ------------------------
>>  > Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:52:04 -0700
>> > From: michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com
>> > To: noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> > Subject: [Noisebridge-discuss] a little bit of info on the excel  
>> program, and an idea to move forward
>> >
>> > Man, these guys are hard to get in touch with, in spite of the  
>> handy
>> > contacts list on their web page.
>> >
>> > My (soon-to-be-ex) wife spent some time on the phone and was able  
>> to get
>> > through to Jason Rigg, the new manager. He does not accept direct  
>> emails
>> > (can we work with someone like this?) and he directed her to the  
>> two
>> > documents we've already seen: the RFP and the spreadsheet.
>> >
>> > He said to think "pie in the sky" and when they review the  
>> proposals
>> > they might want to negotiate down to something that they can fund.
>> >
>> > I will next follow up on the leads that Lee got from 826 Valencia:
>> > Marisa and Dave.
>> >
>> > Meanwhile, I get the impression that we can propose pretty much  
>> whatever
>> > we would like, so in order to keep the ball rolling, and since the
>> > deadline is the end of this month, let's start talking about this.
>> >
>> > So, if we could propose our ideal program, what would it look like?
>> >
>> > I'll toss out some of my ideas, but please let's hear yours, and  
>> don't
>> > take mine as a firm proposal:
>> >
>> > Number of kids per class? I like no more than 10, although you do  
>> get a
>> > different dynamic with a larger group, assuming you have enough  
>> teachers.
>> >
>> > Ages? I just finished teaching a bunch of 8-10 year olds. Very high
>> > energy, very low attention span. Sweet kids, though, and good  
>> work when
>> > they focused, but I spent too much of my time telling them not to  
>> bother
>> > each other etc.
>> >
>> > 7th-8th grades have the hormones making them crazy. I should  
>> know, I
>> > have a 14 year old daughter. Keep away.
>> >
>> > High school can be the most rewarding, but is challenging. OTOH,  
>> this is
>> > probably the group that can most benefit from learning a creative  
>> skill
>> > in an after-school setting, and might especially enjoy the cool  
>> stuff we
>> > can teach. And, at their age especially, this could have a real  
>> impact
>> > on their future.
>> >
>> > My preference? 10-12 or high school.
>> >
>> > Subjects?
>> > Let's keep this very broad.
>> >
>> > Duration?
>> > I think for the first time we do this, I suggest we do something  
>> like a
>> > 6 week program, perhaps 2-3 times a week, and then expand as our
>> > confidence and experience dictates.
>> >
>> > Let's also discuss philosophy. I really am not interested in  
>> working
>> > with "gifted" or even those already interested in science. The  
>> ones I
>> > prefer are those who think they can not understand this, or can not
>> > learn how to do this. And I like to draw out the kids who are  
>> quiet and
>> > don't jump up and raise their hands the first time. And I want to  
>> use
>> > materials and supplies that are cheap and readily available, so  
>> that
>> > after class they can continue or duplicate without having to  
>> spend lots
>> > of money. I want to keep this accessible to all, and especially the
>> > underserved.
>> >
>> > I'm also particularly interested in getting more girls involved  
>> in what
>> > we do. We might consider having one group be a girls-only group,  
>> so they
>> > can develop their skills without having to compete with the guys.  
>> There
>> > are arguments on both sides of this issue, and I lean towards  
>> having a
>> > girls-only session.
>> >
>> > Have at it!
>> >
>> > M
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
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