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

Fri Apr 17 18:43:34 UTC 2009

   i've got an eee 9 inch and find the keyboard 
is a little too cramped for me. 
   the eee 10 inch keyboard might be better. the 
new HP comparable offering has a better keyboard 
than my eee 9 inch for sure; i think there's an 
acer of the same size and price that's got a better 
keyboard than my 9 inch. 

On Fri, 2009-04-17 at 02:15 -0700, J.D. Zamfirescu-Pereira wrote:
> (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
> > _______________________________________________
> > Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> 
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